Civil rights activist Cornel West is one of some 20 protesters who will go to trial before the same Manhattan judge next month for allegedly obstructing car and foot traffic during a Harlem protest against the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk policies.
West and his fellow protesters were busted on disorderly conduct charges in October for allegedly failing to disperse during a protest on 125th St. The professor and author said he views the upcoming trial as a “beautiful” extension of the protest itself.
“I’m trying to keep the pressure up for these precious brothers who are getting stopped and frisked,” he told reporters as he entered Manhattan Criminal Court for a brief appearance today. “It’s unfriendly, unwarranted, and deeply racist. That’s what it is.”
Protesters contend that minorities are stopped and frisked at greatly disproportionate percentages, and that the vast majorities of the stops do not result in arrests. Adherents say the stops still take dangerous guns off the streets, making it safer for the disproportionate percent of crime victims who are also minorities.
The 20 protesters will go to trial simultaneously against the violation charges; the trial is so far set for April 30.
“The city knows that there is an increase in consciousness of stop and frisk issues and we get a chance not to dramatize it in a much more intense manner — and that’s beautiful,” West told reporters as he left court.