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Source: http://www.foxnews.com/national/032500/dorismond.sml

Funeral Held for Shooting Victim in NYC Erupts in Violence Updated 11:30 p.m. ET (0430 GMT) March 25, 2000 Twenty-three police officers were injured and 27 people arrested Saturday when the funeral of an unarmed Haitian immigrant shot by New York City police erupted in violence and rioting.

Mark Lennihan/AP

A total of 28 people were hurt in the clash between protestors and police in Brooklyn, where hundreds of mourners turned out for the funeral of Patrick Dorismond — the third unarmed black man to be shot by New York City police within the past 13 months. The angry crowd of mourners and marchers pushed through police blockades and surged toward a wall of uniformed police officers, New York 1 television reported from the scene.

As rocks and bottles flew and the crowd became more agitated, dozens of additional police officers outfitted in riot gear arrived. Police helicopters and fire department vehicles were also dispatched to the scene, which observers described as extremely volatile and dangerous.

Injuries to police officers included broken bones and noses, torn ligaments or had to have shards of glass rinsed from their eyes. Five civilians also were injured.

The violence broke out about 15 minutes after the funeral of Patrick Dorismond, a 26-year-old security guard and father of two who was shot by police March 16 during a scuffle with undercover police officers trying to make drug arrests in Manhattan.

The officer allegedly approached Dorismond and asked him if he would sell him marijuana. According to reports, when Dorismond rebuffed the officer, a scuffle ensued, and back-up officers were called to the scene. One officer's gun went off, killing Dorismond.

Dorismond's death came only a few weeks after an Albany jury acquitted four white undercover officers in the shooting death of Amadou Diallo, a West African immigrant who died in a hail of 41 bullets in the Bronx. Diallo was also unarmed and not committing a crime at the time of his death.

Reeling from this latest death, more than 3,000 people formed a procession behind Dorismond's hearse Saturday, marching through the streets of Brooklyn in an effort to turn the funeral into a rally for justice.

Led by activist Rev. Al Sharpton, who carried a sign reading "Justice for Patrick," they called for the resignation of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has been under fire in the Dorismond shooting for releasing information from Dorismond's police record, including sealed juvenile files, and for not visiting Dorismond's family.

The marchers were met by a crowd of supporters assembled outside the church where the funeral was being held. Violence Begins After Funeral

New York 1 reported the violence broke out after the funeral, when Dorismond's mother, Marie Dorismond, began weeping uncontrollably and collapsed into convulsions. Her agitation sparked a flood of emotion and the crowd began pushing against the barricades.

About 25 uniformed officers entered the crowd but were pushed back. Rioting broke out as the crowd continued to surge forward, New York 1 reported. The protestors were attempting to reach the local police precinct, which police had blocked off. As the situation grew more dangerous, riot officers arrived on the scene.

Police were able to restore some order to the scene by Saturday afternoon, but the situation remains tenuous with a very upset and angry crowd remaining on the streets.

But even before the rioting began, the situation had been volatile. During the long procession march to the funeral, earsplitting shrieks and hysterical shouts accompanied the honking of car horns as protesters knocked down the barricades police had set up to accommodate the demonstration.

At the site of Dorismond's casket, draped with the American and Haitian flags, a group of demonstrators tore the American flag from the casket and began to tear and burn it.

A car driving the wrong way on the street was plastered with banners, including some that read: "If you shoot one of my children, I shoot five of you," and "Rudy Giuliani, shoot one of my children and your son Andrew will go to his grave."

A man walking through a crush of people shouted, "Rudy, I'll blow you up to kingdom come, cut you with a chain saw, and feed you to the dogs!"

Another protester carried a sign emblazoned with the names of other victims of police shootings and violence. "Diallo, Louima, Baez, Bumpers, enough," the sign read.

"It's our blood, it's not cheap," said Michel Eddy, a 26-year-old Haitian immigrant. "We must let them know this must stop."

Some shouted, "You didn't protect him, you killed him!"

Giuliani, who has maintained he has a duty to emphasize the police point of view because the news media are incapable of covering police shooting cases fairly, is not backing down from his support for the police.

In a statement issued Saturday, the Mayor praised the restraint shown by officers involved in the confrontation and in veiled remarks suggested Sharpton was responsible for inciting the violence.

"Unfortunately, when you allow demagogues to take over for political and divisive purposes, the American flag gets shredded and burned; steel barricades are hurled and bottles are thrown injuring police officers and civilians,"' Giuliani said.

One of Saturday's marchers, Cathy Dumont, a 26-year old Haitian-born Brooklyn resident, compared Haiti's decades of military rule with America's democracy.

"Mrs. Dorismond took her son out of a military regime and brought him here because she thought it would be better and safer, but Giuliani and the way he's empowered the police have proved her wrong," she said.

Hundreds of mourners, many of them Haitian immigrants, attended Dorismond's wake Friday night, including Sharpton and Abner Louima, another Haitian immigrant whose abuse by police was another major scandal for the department.

"This has happened too much and it's only happening in our community," said Sharpton. "We must ask God to give us strength that in Patrick's name this can stop."

Outside the funeral home Friday, 30 protesters chanted "Giuliani Must Go" and held signs calling for his resignation and that of Police Commissioner Howard Safir.

"We are all scarred by this," said Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who attended the funeral. Hevesi criticized the mayor for not meeting with the family or attending the funeral. "This is a reflection of the tension in the city."

One mourner, Blaise Lambre, described Dorismond as "a person who just enjoyed life," and he blamed Giuliani for failing to show sympathy for the family.

"Picture somebody you grew up with, played in the same building with, did everything with," Lambre said. "I'm angry at the fact that he died. ... It was wrong. To me, it's murder, simple as that."

"We're devastated," said co-worker Frank Foley.

"I'm just angry," said mourner Marie Registre. "It's terrible."

Dorismond is the son of Andre Dorismond, one of Haiti's most popular and beloved singers. He is survived by two daughters, Infiniti, 5, and Destiny, 1.

— The Associated Press and New York Post contributed to this report