From: nattyreb@ix.netcom.com
Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 02:31:36
Subject: !*Police and Press Criminalize A Black Victim

FORWARDED MESSAGE
====================

Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 18:27:55 -0700
From: EHutchi344@aol.com (by way of Michael Novick )

COALITION AGAINST MEDIA EXPLOITATION

May 16, 1999

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Earl Ofari Hutchinson, 323-296-6331

Criminalizing Tyisha Miller

In a feature story in its May 14 edition the Riverside Press Enterprise
published excerpts from a 2000 page police report that called Tyisha
Miller a “suspect” and depicted her as a virtual criminal. Miller the 19
year-old African-American woman was gunned down by four non-black
Riverside police officers in December, 1998. “The report played to every
stereotype about blacks” say Earl Ofari Hutchinson, director of the
Coalition Against Media Exploitation, “and could be viewed as a ploy to
justify the shooting of Miller.”

The Riverside DA recently announced no charges would be filed against the
officers. 

The report called Miller: 

“assaultive,” “confrontational,” “violence prone,” “gun toting,” “a
possible gang member,” and a “friend of a parolee. 

The report relied mostly on unsubstantiated and uncorroborated statements
from unnamed sources. The report said virtually nothing about the behavior
or background of the four officers who shot Miller. 

The Coalition calls on the Press-Enterprise to: 

•Print a balanced story on Miller’s life based on complete interviews with
friends, family members, school officials, and co-workers. 

•Request that police release full details on the background and behavior
of the four officers involved in the Miller shooting and publish the
details in a feature story. 

Write or forward this call to:

Riverside Press-Enterprise
Executive editor: George Rodrigue
909-782-7672 (ph)
909-782-7572 (fax)
email: grodrigue@pe.com