Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 2:00 PM
5655 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice – L.A. and Humanity First Coalition
Call (323) 306-6240 for more information.
#justice4renardo
On March 31st Renardo and Lubreeze Lewis decided to get take-out at the local International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant in Marietta, GA.
After waiting 30 minutes, then being told that their food was not being prepared, the couple’s inquiry about why this happened was met with a very rude response from the IHOP staff and manger, who were white.
Fortunately a video taken by a member of our Atlanta chapter of the Peoples Power Assembly shows the entire incident, which became a racist life-threatening nightmare for the couple when one of the staff called the police simply because Ms. Lewis asked for the number of the corporate office of IHOP. Mr. Lewis was subsequently kicked, punched and tazed simply for objecting to his wife being yelled at.
Renardo Lewis is being illegally held with no bond set and was told he’d be in jail for one month to await trial. He is being charged with two felony counts of obstruction and assault on a police officer, in addition to other made-up charges to justify police terrorism. He remains in prison for doing nothing.
Lizz Toledo, of the Peoples Power Assembly and who took the video, is working with the family in Marietta and there will be a demonstration at the IHOP in Marietta, GA while we are holding a solidarity demonstration here on Saturday at 2 pm at the IHOP located at 5655 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles.
Please show your solidarity with the Lewis family and tell the police that this racism will not be tolerated and to release Renardo Lewis and drop the charges now!
Full background:
On March 31st Renardo and Lubreeze Lewis decided to get take-out at the local International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant in Marietta, GA.
After waiting 30 minutes, then being told that their food was not being prepared, the couple’s inquiry about why this happened was met with a very rude response from the IHOP staff and manager, who were white.
Fortunately a video shows the entire incident that became a racist life-threatening nightmare for the Lewis’ when one of the staff called the police simply because Ms. Lewis asked for the number of the corporate office of IHOP. Mr. Lewis was subsequently kicked, punched and tazed simply for objecting to his wife being yelled at.
Two police officers, a man and a woman, responding to the call entered the restaurant.
The male officer escalated the situation by yelling at Mr. Lewis to shut up, without any provocation. Mr. Lewis, who is Black, asked the officer not to yell at him and to treat him like a man.
Three more cops then entered the restaurant. Mr. Lewis and his wife were not allowed to leave, although they were not under arrest. One of the cops who had just arrived asked Mr. Lewis for identification. As he was pulling his ID out of his wallet, he was pushed against a window by three officers.
The first racist cop who’d come in screaming joined his fascist pals to restrain Mr. Lewis. This first cop tased Mr. Lewis five times and punched him several times, breaking his tooth and injuring his head.
Three of these officers came in without asking any questions and assaulted this African-American man. They pushed his wife and witnesses who decided to video tape the incident and were desperately trying to keep Ms. Lewis from also being tazed, punched and kicked by the cops.
As can be seen in the video, at no time did Mr. Lewis threaten or touch any of the officers, their tasers or guns.
Since then, the Marietta Police Department posted multiple lies on their Facebook page to cover their racist response. However, the video says it all.
Abolish the racist police! Boycott IHOP!
You can watch the video here:
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