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NEWS BRIEFS
NAACP leaders say black residents are being racially profiled
The Huntington-Cabell Branch of the NAACP President Sylvia C. Ridgeway speaks during a joint press conference with Huntington's Black Pastor Ministerial Association at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009.
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Leaders of the Huntington-Cabell Branch of the NAACP and the Huntington Black Pastors’ Ministerial Association said they have received complaints from black residents who believe they were racially profiled by local law enforcement.
About a dozen members of the two groups spoke at a joint private press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Sylvia Ridgeway, president of the local NAACP chapter, said one person has been pulled over about 11 times in the past few months without cause and without issuing a citation.
Another man, said the Rev. Roy Terry, was stopped while walking his dog after dark.
“There have been numerous complaints,” said Terry, the president of the Huntington Black Pastors’ Ministerial Association. “An 18-year-old Marshall student was pulled over and received no citation or cause from officers.”
The groups want police to continue to do their job but not do it based on race.
The press conference was held in response to the Nov. 8 shooting of Huntington man Joe Jeremaine Porter at a Club Babylon on 4th Avenue. He was shot by a police officer, who has yet to be identified.
Read more in Thursday's Herald-Dispatch.
