ANOTHER TRAGEDY

Where were the police.


There is more to the shooting at the Polish/American Club last weekend that resulted in the death of teenager Sam Brown age 16.

The Herald reported HERE that the owner of the club hired City of Miami Police Officers for security, and that the officers were “no shows.”

Mayor Miami Diaz, showing the knowledge and acumen that has made South Florida politicians famous, fought back against the allegations that the City of Miami Police Department dropped the ball.

“The department is simply incapable of providing officers at every private event”, the Herald quoted the Mayor as saying.

One problem: In the same article the Mayor admitted he did not know how the off-duty security program with the Police Department worked.

That’s what we like- a politician who holds a press conference and speaks authoritatively on an issue he admits he knows nothing about. Give the mayor high marks for honesty. It's not often a politican admits he's a dunce.


The real tragedy here is that an apparently wonderful 16 year old young man lost his life, before it really began.

The Herald reported HERE
on just what a special young man Sam Brown was turning out to be.


The Herald reported that Sam Brown was a member of “Lamplighters, the youth wing of Omega Psi Phi, the prestigious black fraternity with more than 100,000 members.The group's goal is to lend a hand to black teens like Sam -- and Sam was already returning the favor by giving back to his own community.

The six-foot-three kid with the linebacker's physique was known as ''Big Sam.'' He was a long-standing volunteer at the Miami Rescue Mission's Community Activity Center, where he served as an afternoon counselor to kids in Overtown. His job was to lead them in games at the center's gym.

''All the kids loved Sam,'' said Quanina Hodgson, an employee at the mission. ``They took it very hard when they heard what had happened to him.''
On Thursday, the center will hold a vigil in his honor at 6 p.m. at 2025 NW First Ave.”


This is just an awful, senseless tragedy, in a City that seems beset with gun and youth violence.

We need more young men like Sam Brown. His death should not be in vain. It is time for this community to strike back against the proliferation of weapons and careless disregard for human life that all too often ends with someone like Sam Brown dead.

Mayor Diaz should not be holding press conferences defending the City of Miami Police Department.

Mayor Diaz s and the City of Miami Police Department should be holding press conferences trying to get the public to help in finding Sam Brown’s killers.

We wonder what is more important to the Mayor: Making this community safe, or making his police department immune from lawsuits?

See You In Court.

Oh: Judge Zack said he didn't do anything wrong. The ol' The Hurricane made me do it defense