Tampa requests review of shooting

Riots followed the 1967 police slaying of robbery suspect Martin Chambers.

By NICOLE HUTCHESON, Times Staff Writer
Published August 3, 2007

An officer checks his shotgun while on duty after riots broke out after the killing of 19 year old Martin Chambers by Police.
	[Times files]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo | Daniel Wallace] Sabrina King, 49, left, and Jeffery Collins King Chambers, 53, visit the gravesite of their brother, Martin Van Chambers, at Rest Haven Memorial Park off Hanna Avenue in Tampa.

TAMPA - City officials took steps to heal an old wound Thursday.

The City Council voted unanimously to request that the U.S. Attorney's Office investigate the 1967 shooting death of Martin Chambers by a Tampa police officer.

"The intent is to put this issue to rest, or at least bring some comfort and peace to the minds of the family," said council member Thomas Scott, who made the motion to request federal assistance.

Earlier this week, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney's Office requesting the federal government investigate the case. She said in the letter that "concerns persist by many in the African-American community that the case deserves further scrutiny."

Chambers, 19, was suspected of robbing a camera store and was running from police when he was shot in the back in an area on Central Avenue that was predominantly black at the time.

His death sparked days of riots in the neighborhood.

A court proceeding after the shooting and a reinvestigation in 1990 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found the shooting justified.

But for decades the teen's family and others have maintained the shooting was racially motivated. A few weeks ago they asked that the City Council help them bring the case to the attention of the Justice Department.

Their recent re-emergence comes on the heels of preliminary approval of federal legislation that would address civil rights-era murder cases. The Emmitt Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act would appropriate $100-million over the next decade for such investigations. The measure has passed the House and has been heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee. No Senate vote has been scheduled.

Once the Attorney General's Office receives the city's request, the facts of the case will be examined and investigators will determine if the case merits further action.

The city's decision Thursday was met with measured optimism by the Chambers family.

"I have positive feelings," said Jeffery Collins-King Chambers, Martin's brother. "At least something is being moved forward."

[Last modified August 2, 2007, 23:53:43]