Demand Justice for Ariston Waiters!

Occupy Atlanta Demands Justice for Recent String of State Murders

This Wednesday, December 28th at 7:00 pm, Occupy Atlanta will join the Union City community and the family of 19-year old father Ariston “Asteroid” Waiters in a rally at Union City City Hall.

Asteroid was gunned down in cold blood by a Union City cop on Wednesday December 14th.  Asteroid was unarmed and posed no danger to anyone yet he was executed with two rounds to his back.  He was shot in the back!  There is no excuse for that!

The Union City police initially tried to claim that Asteroid was involved in a physical altercation with an officer as they arrived on the scene of an alleged fight amongst school aged children.  Every single eyewitness agreed that Asteroid was not involved in any altercation but was in fact running in the opposite direction of the police when he was murdered.

Amber Dorsey and Darren Turner told investigators they were on a neighbor’s back porch December 14 when they saw  19-year-old Ariston Waiters being gunned down by a Union City police officer.  “I saw Ariston look back then run and ‘Pow’, the officer shot him,” Dorsey said. “He continued to run then, ‘Pow’, the officer shot him again.”

Union City police immediately began an official cover up.  Union City police are guilty of intimidating the eyewitnesses to the shooting during their interrogation by having the murderer in the same room.  Would you feel comfortable speaking out about a murder with the murderer in the room while his co-workers interrogated you?

“That breaks every known protocol when interviewing someone regarding a shooting,” Attorney Mawuli Davis told CBS Atlanta. “It should have never happened, and there has to be some action taken against all of the officers involved who were trying to interrogate and intimidate these two young people.”

The Union City police is also accused of holding witnesses for an excessive amount of time in order to prevent them from speaking to the GBI.  Union City police are also reported to have torn up witnesses statements.  Sadly, these intimidation tactics are all too common.

As a community we cannot stand for these attempts to intimidate witnesses and cover up the circumstances of the death of this young father.  Some action must be taken, and an organizer of this Wednesday’s rally is calling for justice for Asteroid and the people of Union City. But what does justice look like for the dead?

No unlikely murder conviction for this homicidal cop will reunite Asteroid with his daughter or partner.  No monetary settlement will buy back the trust of the community.  What is Asteroid’s mother supposed to do with her boy dead?

Our communities have a cop problem.  Sadly, Asteroid isn’t even the latest youth slain in a recent string of killings by police in Metro Atlanta.  One week ago police ended the life of a 15 year old boy that has been described as mentally ill.  Before that Joetavious Stafford was shot under almost identical circumstances as Asteroid including multiple shots to the back, wildly differing eyewitness statements from what the police allege, and an evident official cover up. We must stop these killings.

Come out on Wednesday with Occupy Atlanta as we join the Union City community and Asteroid’s family at the City Hall.  Others are calling for justice, and we will stand with them, but we will be calling for retribution against this murdering authority and the system of state violence he is but one part of.

We are not likely to find what we need through official investigation, prosecution, citizen review boards, civil litigation, or apologies.  Just look at how the Kathryn Johnston shooting was handled.  But we can work together outside these institutions that are either closed to us (meaningful investigation, prosecution) or that a facade (review boards).

Come out to the art gallery and studio at Peachtree and Pine this Wednesday starting at 4:00pm as we make signs and other materials for this action.  We will be meeting promptly at 5:30pm in Troy Davis Park to carpool to Union City which is just south of Atlanta.  Transportation will be leaving in waves and no later than 6:15pm.  We will join other endorsing groups such as the NAACP, National Action Network, and The Malcolm X Grassroots Organization, among others, in a rally on Union City, City Hall.

Please bring drums, banners, signs, your voice, and all appropriate expressions of love and rage.

4:00pm sign and banner making

Peachtree and Pine Art Gallery and Studio, 4th Floor
477 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30308

5:30pm van/carpooling to Union City
Troy Davis Park
91 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, Georgia

7:00pm rally on Union City, City Hall
5047 Union Street
Union City, GA 30291-1455

Facebook event “Stand up and Demand Justice for Ariston Waiters!” created by Vizion Jones

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