FOIA’d Emails in Kiwane Carrington Case Reveal Monitoring of Local Activist Groups

On November 3, 2009, several people spoke before Champaign city council about the police killing of Kiwane Carrington and demanded that Police Chief R.T. Finney, who was at the scene, be fired. After public comments, City Manager Steve Carter responded by saying that he had conducted his own investigation, talking to the state police and State’s Attorney Julia Rietz, and concluded that Finney had done nothing wrong. “He is an excellent police chief,” Carter said.

Upon hearing this, CU Citizens for Peace and Justice decided to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all the correspondence between Carter and local officials to find out more about this supposed investigation. While no documents were provided related to the details of the case (most of these conversations were probably done in person or on the phone, leaving no paper trail), emails exchanged show that local authorities were sharing information about community organizing in the wake of the shooting. Emails were being forwarded to Steve Carter from mass emails being sent out by CU Citizens for Peace and Justice (CUCPJ) and posted to listservs maintained by the Anti-War Anti-Racist Effort (AWARE), Students Transforming Oppression and Privilege (STOP), and the lesbian/feminist chorus Amasong.

Emails collected show that even the local mainstream media was participating in this information sharing. On Monday morning, Oct. 12, CUCPJ was planning a press conference at the IMC with family members of the two youth involved in the incident. Steve Bauer of the News-Gazette sent an email to Deputy Police Chief Troy Daniels inquiring about a Champaign Community and Police (CCAP) meeting and notifying him, “As you probably know, there is a press conference at 10 a.m. Monday at the Independent Media Center.”

After audio and video of the press conference was posted at the IMC web site, an email with the link was sent to the Amasong list, as well as the notice of an upcoming vigil. Council member Deb Feinan, who is on the list, forwarded the email to Steve Carter, the City Manager’s Assistant Joan Walls, and Neighborhood Services Director Dorothy David with the message, “I thought you would like to see the latest in case you haven’t seen it.” Feinan also forwarded an email the next week calling for people to attend a city council meeting and a Speak Out event at the Boys and Girls Club.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, a vigil was held attended by hundreds of community members and followed by an appearance by State Senator and Vice-President of Operation Push, Rev. James Meeks at the New Hope Church of God. Rev. Meeks gave a rousing speech to a crowded room and demanded justice. An email from earlier in the week on Monday indicates that Will Kyles, the only African American city council member, was trying to pacify the city authorities about Meeks’ visit. Steve Carter sent a message to Dorothy David, Joan Walls, and Chief Finney saying that Kyles had told him the “primary reason” Meeks was in town was not for the Carrington case, but to “solicit support for [Cheryle] Jackson’s bid for the US Senate…. He was not intending to get involved in the community issue. Will wanted me to pass that along.” When Meeks was told about Carrington’s killing the next day by members of CUCPJ, he willingly spoke to the community.

Former African American city council member Gina Jackson was receiving emails I had sent to the AWARE list and forwarding several of them to Steve Carter. On October 19, I sent out an email about an upcoming march from the Illinois Terminal, past the Champaign police station, and to Boys and Girls Club. It was forwarded to Chief Finney, who sent it on to police command staff members Troy Daniels, John Murphy, and Holly Nearing. This email, in part, was the reason why on the night of the march the police station was surrounded in yellow tape, with 8-10 police standing at the entrance and reportedly more waiting in the lobby to respond to a possible riot.

Most disturbing was the realization that the head of the local chapter of the NAACP, Rev. Jerome Chambers, was forwarding my emails to city authorities. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, I sent out an email to the STOP list about that night’s city council meeting in which we were addressing the Champaign Police Department’s seeking of accreditation from the Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (ILEAP). Rev. Chambers passed the email to Steve Carter with the comment, “FYI as promised.”

I had the opportunity to ask Carter what Chambers had promised him. Carter admitted they may have been sharing information about activities planned, but said he had “no recollection” of anything promised to him by Chambers. When I asked Chambers about the email, he said he did not “deliberately” send it to Carter and pleaded, “I don’t want you to do a number on me.” Yet he would not explain what he had promised to Carter.

These individuals have every right to be on activist listservs, yet their intentions should be called into question. Rarely, if ever, are they present for community actions held by these organizations. The aforementioned examples suggest that their objective is to monitor local activist groups, not to play the leadership role they have assumed.

While local authorities were collecting our emails, they refused to return our phone calls. Something which has received little attention in local coverage of the story is that after Carrington was shot, police broke down the back door at 906 W. Vine and ransacked the house. The woman who lived there, Deborah Thomas, was not able to return to her home that night. The next day, black community activist Martel Miller left messages with Champaign police to address the situation, but he did not hear back from them. Deputy Chief Holly Nearing sent an email to Troy Daniels and Assistant to the Police Chief Rene Dunn, cc’ing Chief Finney. It read, “Martel Miller is calling the PD wanting to know why we are not providing the resident at 906 W. Vine a secure house or a place to stay. Any ideas on responding to the resident?”

Immediately after the incident, Carrington’s family was not allowed to identify the body of their loved one. Instead, police used a school photograph to identify him. On Oct. 10, Holly Nearing wrote to Troy Daniels and Chief Finney indicating that the family wanted to view Carrington’s body. She also made mention, “Brian Dollinar [sic] is involved in this viewing issue, he has been calling the front desk.” My phone calls were never returned and the family did not view the body until three days after he was killed.

Meanwhile, city council members were communicating about the case with the State’s Attorney while the investigation by the state police was pending. On Oct. 21, Deb Feinan sent an email to Julia Rietz that only included the message, “Julia, Please give me a call when you get a chance. Deb.” On Oct. 27, Marci Dodds forwarded the names of two potential witnesses to Rietz with the personal note, “It was fun to see you on Sunday.”

Documents acquired under the Freedom of Information Act reveal significant communication between Champaign city officials, Champaign police, and the State’s Attorney. Even while they urged the community to be patient, emails show that they rushed to handle damage control in the aftermath of the police shooting.