Another Outrage in Chicago: Police Kill 15-Year-Old and Claim It Was Suicide

September 1, 2018 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

On August 17, Steven “Stevie” Rosenthal was outside celebrating his 15th birthday with friends when Chicago police started chasing him. Minutes later he lay dead in the stairwell of his grandmother’s house from a gunshot wound to his head. The police claimed it was a suicide, that somehow Steven shot himself in the head while they were chasing him.

At a press conference two days later, friends and family called out this murder by police. “Within moments, these officers, without cause or provocation shot and killed 15-year-old Steven,” the family’s lawyer said. He continued, “Based on several eyewitness accounts, these officers ended the hopes and dreams of a talented young man with a bright future.” A crowd of more than 100 people, mostly young teenage friends of Steven’s, surrounded the grieving family.

At the press conference’s conclusion, people, more than 100 strong, took to the streets in protest. Chanting “Justice for Stevie,” “Who Killed Stevie? CPD!” they marched through Chicago’s West Side Lawndale neighborhood. They stopped at Mt. Sinai Hospital where family members, who had still not been able to view the body, led people in chanting, “We want to see Stevie.” From there they took over Ogden Avenue, a major thoroughfare, and marched to the 10th District police station. Chanting and dancing in the streets, their cries for justice rang out.

LaToya Howell, the mother of Justus Howell, murdered in 2015 by police in the Illinois town of Zion near the Wisconsin border, had come down with family members. She led these youths in chants, including “Indict, Convict, Send the Killer Cops to Jail, the Whole Damn System Is Guilty as Hell!” as they marched to the 10th District police station.

Stevie was part of the varsity basketball team at his high school. Team members in uniform and two team coaches positioned themselves at the front of the crowd as it faced off with the police. They blocked the street outside the 10th District station for close to an hour. As darkness fell, the crowd marched through neighborhoods back to where they started, vowing to return every day at 7 pm for 30 days. As of this writing, they have kept that pledge. Revolution Club members have joined these protests as part of carrying out their strategy of “fight the power, and transform the people, for revolution.” Stevie’s funeral is Saturday, September 1. The Revolution Club plans to attend.

 

Stevie was on the Crane High School Varsity Basketball team. Team members and coaches along with two members of Justus Howell's family face the 10th District police station on Chicago's west side. The crowd is gathered behind them.

Steven "Stevie" Rosenthal