[CIMC-work] [enough_is_enoughcampaign] Fwd: Sat: Vigil for May Molina (fwd)

[Mitchell Szczepanczyk]

Vigil is tonight...

----------
_ Z  Mitchell Szczepanczyk
  /  http://home.uchicago.edu/~msszczep http://www.chicagomediaaction.org
     http://www.geocities.com/szczepanczyk http://chicago.indymedia.org

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 23:52:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: sam jordan <samj1984 at yahoo.com>
Reply-To: enough_is_enoughcampaign at yahoogroups.com
To: chicagsocialists at yahoogroups.com,
     eie <enough_is_enoughcampaign at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [enough_is_enoughcampaign] Fwd: Sat: Vigil for May Molina

> Vigil for May Molina
>=20
> WHEN:  Saturday evening, June 26 -- one month since
> her death
> WHERE:  Belmont & Western, outside Belmont District
> (19th) Police H.Q.=20
> TIME:  8 PM
> WHAT:  A peaceful, candlelight vigil
>=20
> The family of May Molina and the organization she
> founded, Families of the=20
> Wrongfully Convicted, invite those who love justice
> to join in a peaceful=20
> candlelight vigil one month since her death in
> police custody.  We continue to=20
> demand an independent, federal investigation.
>=20
> UPDATE
>=20
>
http://www.fightbacknews.org/2004/02spring/maymolina3.htm
> Evidence Mounting Against Police in Molina Murder
> by Stephanie Weiner
> =20
> Chicago, IL - The need for an independent federal
> investigation into the=20
> death of May Molina - a Puerto Rican activist who
> died in police custody May 27 -=20
> is becoming more urgent. The son of Molina, Michael
> Ortiz, was arrested with=20
> his mother in the police raid. He was charged with
> drug possession and jailed.=20
> =20
> On the day of May Molina=E2=80=99s death, police leaked to
> the press  that 80 bags of=20
> heroin were found in their apartment. On June 16,
> Michael Ortiz was released=20
> by a judge who said none of the samples tested
> positive for any narcotics.=20
> Police now claim they mistook candle-making supplies
> for drugs.
> =20
> Michael Ortiz spoke at a press conference, June 17,
> in front of the Belmont=20
> and Western police station where his mother died. He
> spoke about his anger and=20
> his commitment to getting justice. Later the family
> took him to his mother=E2=80=99s=20
> grave for the first time. Police refused to release
> him from custody for her=20
> funeral.
>=20
>=20
> CHICAGO TRIBUNE COVERAGE
>=20
> Police free son of dead activist on drug count
> By Patrick Rucker
> Chicago Tribune staff reporter
> June 18, 2004
>=20
> Michael Ortiz, whose mother died while in police
> custody last month, was=20
> freed from jail after substances found in his
> apartment were determined not to be=20
> illegal drugs, police said Thursday.
>=20
> Ortiz, 34, was arrested along with his mother,
> community activist May Molina,=20
> for possession of a controlled substance May 24
> after police raided their=20
> building in the 3500 block of North Halsted Street.
>=20
> Police said they found 80 tinfoil packets of heroin
> in a purse in Molina's=20
> apartment and another controlled substance in
> Ortiz's apartment.
>=20
> Molina, 55, was found dead in her holding cell at
> the Belmont police station=20
> less than 48 hours later. A cause of death has yet
> to be determined, pending=20
> toxicology test results. Molina had ingested six
> tinfoil packets, said police=20
> spokesman David Bayless.
>=20
> Unable to meet his $125,000 bail, Ortiz was held in
> Cook County jail from his=20
> arrest, including through his mother's funeral,
> until Wednesday afternoon. He=20
> was released after lab results determined that the
> substance recovered from=20
> Ortiz's apartment was not a drug, Bayless said.
>=20
> Ortiz's girlfriend, Shannon Guzman, 31, said the
> suspected drug was a vial of=20
> crystals used to make candles.
>=20
> Molina founded Families of the Wrongfully Convicted
> in hopes of clearing the=20
> name of another son, Salvador Ortiz, 35, who was
> convicted of murder in 1994.=20
> Speaking outside the Belmont police station where
> his mother died, Ortiz said=20
> he would continue his mother's activism.
>=20
> "I have to carry out my mom's legacy because there
> are many corrupt cops," he=20
> said. "She's looking on me now and giving me
> support."
>=20
> Ortiz and others have accused the police of
> withholding medical attention=20
> from Molina, who, her family said, used a wheelchair
> and was on medication to=20
> treat diabetes, asthma and a thyroid condition.
> Police said that Molina was=20
> checked every 15 minutes while in custody and that
> she never requested any=20
> medication.
>=20
> The Office of Professional Standards is
> investigating Molina's death, Bayless=20
> said, "but that investigation depends on the
> cooperation of witnesses."=20
> Molina's supporters have said Chicago police are ill
> equipped to handle the=20
> investigation and have asked U.S. Atty. Patrick
> Fitzgerald to lead an inquest.
>=20
> Molina was sentenced to 3 years in prison on a drug
> conviction in 1991. Ortiz=20
> has felony convictions on a 1989 drug charge and
> 1994 robbery, court records=20
> indicate.
>=20
> But Molina's lasting image should be that of a
> community activist, Ortiz=20
> said. "I feel that it is insane for them to label
> her a bad person. ... If you=20
> needed a shirt, she would take her shirt off and
> give it to you. That's the kind=20
> of person she was."
>=20
> Copyright =C2=A9 2004, Chicago Tribune=20
>=20
> ~~~~~~~~
> sent by Michael Stanek at the request of Mary L.
> Johnson, 235-3387. =20
>=20
> Please continue to use my prefered, permanent email
> address,=20
> mstanek3 at juno.com.
>=20
> If you wish to be removed from this list, reply with
> the word 'remove' in the=20
> subject.
>=20



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