GLASSBORO, N.J. – The family of George Floyd changed forever when Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds while Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe” before dying.
Another Black family was changed forever 26 years ago. On April 17, 1994, Eltarmine Sanders, known as L.T. by family, was left in the street dying after Peter Amico, a white police officer, shot him.
According to the New York Times, “Officer Amico, a six-year veteran of the Police Department, told his superiors that he shot once in self-defense. He said the black teenager lunged at him with a 13-inch carving knife almost as soon as he stepped from his patrol car in front of the home of Delores Sanders, Eltarmine’s mother and the person who called the police.”
However, witnesses told a different story. Accounts from witnesses saw Eltarmine with a knife in hand chasing his cousin, Darrell, and not once did Eltarmine turned towards Officer Amico. Eltarmine was shot without warning.
Eltarmine would’ve been 40 this year.
Floyd was 46 when he died. Had Eltarmine lived, would he experience another fatal police encounter?
How come 26 years later Black lives are dying to police brutality? This week protests are happening in all 50 states and around the world. People everywhere are grieving the loss of innocent Black lives while fighting for a better system.
After the shooting of 1994, 200 Black residents with some white allies marched in protest to the Police Station.
Fast forward to last Sunday, where over a thousand people of different races, sex and age took part in the 9 Mile March for Black Lives from the Glassboro Intermediate School to the Deptford Police Station.
One mile walked for every minute Floyd laid underneath the officer’s knee during his final moments of life.
Speakers called out for justice at different resting points. James Johnson, one of the speakers and a professor at Rowan’s College of Education, launched a petition to have Amico removed from Rowan’s Office of Emergency Management where Amico worked as director.
Amico’s administrative role is responsible for for preparing and responding to emergencies such as natural disasters, an armed assailant and other emergencies. Before he was director, Amico served another 15 years on the police force before retiring in 2009.
Amico, who is 56, receives a monthly pension payment of $5,600. That’s $67,200 annually.
According to NJ Advance Media, nearly two-thirds of New Jersey’s municipal police officers made six figures in 2016. At the protest, people spoke about defunding the police and using the money towards education instead.
In 2008, Amico worked with Rowan as a private contractor for the Department of Public Safety accreditation application process. He was hired full-time in 2010 after a background check then named director of Rowan’s Office of Emergency Management in 2013.
However, with over 3,000 signatures, Rowan University decided to terminate Amico last night, a day after residents marched for justice and police reform.
Marla Newsom, the organizer of the 9 Mile March for Black Lives, said on Facebook, “Petitions work. Rowan listened. This is why we can’t stop now.”
“I know this doesn’t take away any of the pain the Sanders family has endured and will continue to endure, but people are listening. This is what yesterday’s march was about—making Black voices heard,” writes Newsom.
One voice that was heard included Ashlee Sanders, the cousin to Eltarmine. She began her speech by reading a letter from her aunt Delores Sanders, Eltarmine’s mother. Deptford officers listened to her powerful speech outside the protesters’ circle.
This is only the beginning of justice. As the speakers said, the year 2020 is a year of clarity. We must continue using our voices to push for change. We can’t protest one week then go back to normal.
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