WHITE PLAINS IS BURNING

Remember these names- Ramarley Graham, Treyvon Martin and Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. Each of these individuals were killed by those in some degree of authority. Graham and Chamberlain were killed in their homes by police. The most famous of the three, Treyvon Martin was killed by a self proclaimed armed neighborhood watchman, while minding his own business, walking down the street. All were black. The teens, Martin and Graham have been demonized by the media as either having marijuana on their person or in their system. Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., a Marine and Vietnam vet., has been characterized consistently as "mentally disturbed", although it was a life-alert heart condition that brought police knocking...then pounding.....then breaking down his door, in the wee hours of the morning. As tragic and criminal as the Martin and Graham cases are, it is the Chamberlain murder that seems the most alarming.
   Imagine this- you are asleep in your own house in a good neighborhood in the suburbs of White Plains, NY. You have a medical condition that requires you to wear a life alert monitor in case you need immediate help. Somehow in the middle of the night the alarm sounds. Your heart is fine, but nonetheless the service, that you have paid good money for, kicks into gear. As a matter of course EMS, Fire dept. and police are notified. They are informed that this is a medical emergency (not a crime) and are instructed to find out if the life-alert customer is OK. Sounds good right?
    All of the sudden you are awakened by loud knocking on the door. It is the police. You are disoriented and scared by the volume and cadence of the knocking. Unsure just who is at your door and  why they are so intent on entering, you hesitate to open it. The knocking becomes louder and more frantic. The phone rings and it is the life-alert people. A calm woman on the other end is asking you if you are OK? She is asking about your health issues, but you misconstrue the question in all the excitement and reply to a more immediate problem. No. You are not OK. The White Plains police are trying to break down your door, for God knows what reason. If this was in the fine print of the life-alert contract you sure don't remember it.

Over better than an hour a horribly tragic scenario played out in Mr. Chamberlain's White Plains house. Between the police and life-alert audio tapes, as well as taser video that recorded as Kenneth Chamberlain was being zapped, bean-bagged and eventually executed, we have a pretty good idea of what happened. Numerous times during that hour, police had not only the opportunity, but the duty, to diffuse the situation. Instead they poured gas on the fire, at one point referring to Mr. Chamberlain as "nigger". "To distract him." according to an official statement. If this was the deep south in the 50's it would be outlandish. NY in 2012 is over the top criminality.
    What is even more absurd is only after the Martin and Graham cases hit the papers did the Chamberlain case even surface in the media. Then to add insult to murder, a White Plains grand jury refused to indite any of the police officers involved. Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. is now filing a $21,000,000 lawsuit and trying to interest the Feds in pursuing criminal charges. Maybe it's just coincidence that all three of these individuals were black. Maybe institutional racism doesn't exist in Florida, the Bronx or White Plains. Maybe these are just aberrations, glitches in an otherwise fair and impartial system. Maybe no one is responsible. My mom used to wear one of those life-alert pendants, around her neck, in her home in the suburbs of Ct., like I'm sure many little old white ladies do. I'd bet not too many of them have died at the hands of the police.......checking to see if they are OK? Maybe that's just the luck of the draw. Think twice about pushing that button next time you've fallen and can't get up.