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CARRIE JOHNSONA City Council member questions an officer's inaction as Uhuru members ripped up a Halloween display.
ST. PETERSBURG - One week after police watched members of a controversial civil rights group tear down a Halloween display outside a home, a City Council member is demanding to know why nobody was arrested.
In a memorandum to Mayor Rick Baker and police Chief Chuck Harmon, City Council member Richard Kriseman suggested the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement received special treatment from police during the Oct. 19 incident.
The Uhurus said the display had racial overtones.
But Kriseman said he has been inundated with calls and e-mails from residents who feel police mishandled the situation.
"Whether the display was inappropriate or offensive is not the issue," Kriseman wrote in a memo he sent Monday. "What is the issue is the fact that these individuals were not arrested. Surely trespassing, destruction of private property and disorderly conduct would warrant an arrest in any situation."
Harmon responded Tuesday with a memorandum of his own denying any favoritism.
"I do not condone the actions of those involved," Harmon wrote. "I have said on many occasions that I do not agree with the Uhurus' methods; however, treating them differently by arresting them when we would not arrest others is unethical and unacceptable."
Harmon said officers are given wide latitude in misdemeanor cases, and the names could have been forwarded to the State Attorney's Office if the homeowner wanted to prosecute.
However, the homeowner decided not to press charges and even apologized to the Uhurus.
"Since we got an apology from the person, we feel this confirms our position," said Chimurenga Waller, an Uhuru leader. "I don't see what Mr. Kriseman is in such a huff about, unless he's trying to protect the history this country has for lynching black people."
The dispute erupted Oct. 19 after Uhuru members were alerted to a display in the yard of an Allendale homeowner featuring a mannequin hanging from a gallows.
The dummy wore a Frankenstein mask and werewolf mitts, but Uhuru members said it was a symbol of hate, stirring memories of the lynching of blacks in post-slavery days.
As a police officer sat in a cruiser nearby trying to reach the homeowner at work, Uhuru leader Omali Yeshitela opened the chain-link fence and ripped down the dummy. Uhuru supporters followed, dismantling the gallows and tearing the dummy apart.
As they left the property, St. Petersburg police Sgt. Glenn Stofer stopped them and asked for their names, but did not arrest anyone.
The case is considered closed, Harmon said.
Kriseman, who decided to write the memorandum after being approached by five people about the incident during a football game Sunday, said he wasn't surprised by Harmon's response but is still unsatisfied. He's planning to ask the city's legal department whether the council can take any further action.
"A crime was committed in front of an officer, and the people who committed the crime weren't arrested," Kriseman said. "I want to know why."
Carrie Johnson can be reached at 727 892-2273 or cjohnson@sptimes.com