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The Donovan Jackson Case posted on: 7/10/2003 8:37:41 PM Protests seek officer's arrest in taped beating July 12, 2002 Posted: 6:40 PM EDT (2240 GMT) Martin Luther King III addresses protesters outside Inglewood police headquarters Friday. LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Irate activists -- including the son of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. -- loudly protested the police treatment of African-American teen Donovan Jackson on Friday, saying the officers involved should be fired and jailed. "We are not saying that these officers should be put on some kind of leave. We're saying they should be fired immediately," Martin Luther King III told dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the Inglewood, California, police station. The protesters waved signs reading, "Power to the people" and "Protest Racist Cop Attack." Jeremy Morse, the police officer accused of mistreating the 16-year-old Jackson, is on paid leave as federal, state and local agencies investigate the Saturday night arrest of Jackson and his father. Police said the beating occurred after police and deputies pulled behind the car driven by Jackson's father, Coby Chavis, at a convenience store where he was pumping gas. They noticed Chavis had expired license plates and later discovered his driver's license was suspended. Protesters claim the beating of Donovan Jackson was unusual only because it was videotaped. But according to Chavis' attorney, officers questioned Chavis at the station for no reason, and later began to beat Jackson and choke him with a chain while the youth was leaning over the trunk of a patrol car. Father and son have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit. The amateur video shows Morse pick up Donovan Jackson, slam him on the trunk of a patrol car and later hit him in the face. Jackson's hands were handcuffed behind his back during the Saturday incident. The attorney for the police officer suspended in the case said the teen-ager deserved to be punched because he grabbed the officer's midsection. King called it a case of racial profiling, which he called "a new name for an old phenomenon." "Over 30 years ago, we were dealing with these issues of poverty, racism, violence and police brutality and misconduct," he said. "This is not a black or white issue. This is a right and wrong issue. And the issue of police brutality and misconduct is wrong, no matter who conducts it. In this case, it was a white officer, but let me tell you there are black officers who beat people every day also," King said. "We are not against police officers. We are against police brutality and misconduct and racial profiling," he added. Activist and former comedian Dick Gregory said he would begin fasting Friday night and continue until the case is resolved. "Some kind of way, we have to say enough is enough," Gregory said. Condie Shumaronga, representing the Donovan Jackson-Chavis Justice Committee, said the group wants all charges against Jackson and his father dropped; criminal charges brought against police, who, if found guilty, "do jail time just like everybody else;" and an independent special prosecutor hired to handle similar crimes. In addition, she recommended that all officers involved be suspended without pay, a public review be conducted of police policies and a civilian police review board be established. Man who taped incident is jailed Crooks , the man who filmed the beating, was arrested Thursday outside CNN's Los Angeles bureau. Meanwhile, an amateur photographer who videotaped the incident, was in jail Friday on unrelated charges filed in another county. Mitchell Crooks, 27, appeared before a grand jury to authenticate the video he took and was to be extradited to Placer County, in northern California, early next week. Crooks was taken to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Men's Central Jail after his release from the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Healthcare Network hospital Friday. He was taken to the hospital Thursday after complaining of injuries. (Full story) The Placer County sheriff's office said Crooks was arrested in February 1999 for stealing two VCRs from his mother's home. On his way to steal them, he was in a traffic accident and fled the scene; he was later charged with hit and run and driving under the influence for that wreck. Crooks was convicted of the three crimes in March 1999 and sentenced to seven months in jail, but failed to report for the sentence, leading to the warrant for his arrest, the Placer County sheriff's office said.Friday

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