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Cops and Gangsters At Ground Zero In The BLC Base
Fri, March 11, 2022
Yesterday, we took you into the base of one city gang, the BLC, where, sometime around 5:00 pm, police stormed a yard, shot two men with rubber bullets, and detained them.

Later in the night, the ComPol explained that the cops were after a murder suspect, and had received information that those in the yard had firearms, so the police went in, armed and ready.

But the residents had a completely different story. They admit that - yes - the suspect ran from the cops and was eventually detained. But then the officers came back a second time to detain another man - and then ended up shooting someone else. The residents also claim the police shot up two vehicles, unwarranted. And they have the surveillance footage to prove it.

Today, we spoke with the commissioner via Zoom, and we also visited the Baptist household where the incident took place, to get both sides. Courtney Menzies has this story.

Police street erupted into chaos yesterday evening, deep inside the BLC turf. Truckloads of police spilled out, firing rubber bullets and carting men off to the station. And in the background, screams of women and shots of "someone got shot!" echoed. It was a cacophony of madness, with the ComPol siding with his officers, whom he said were forced to fire off non-lethal bullets while chasing an alleged murder suspect.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Upon police arrival there, they saw the suspect and at the same time they also saw another male person who apparently was armed with a firearm. Upon seeing the police, the person armed with firearm threw it into a neighbor yard. Police went to apprehend the suspect that was wanted and you can see it even in the video that they produced where the person was resisting and a female came towards the police and others were also coming to the police and they were to some extent using a series of obscenities and threats at the police. And so what the police did was to fire one shot with rubber bullet at the person who was resisting and they also went to retrieve the firearm, known to be a .45 caliber pistol."

But it wasn't just one person who was shot. This is the moment when the suspect, Earl Baptist, was hit with a rubber bullet, collapsing here.

And then later, Hubert Baptist was shot, at point blank range, in the midst of officers shoving him towards the gate.

But while the police have their side of the story, Baptist's girlfriend feels it's yet another case of police harassment since the officers reportedly came back a few minutes later to target another brother - Akeem Baptist.

Voice of: Andrea Avaloy, Girlfriend of Shooting Victim (Hubert Baptist)
"They shot Earl Baptist because he was running from them, when they come, they run, because when police come you don't know what they come for with the guns in their hands. So they shot Earl Baptist and they took him to station. two to three minutes after, more police on feet came running, come in the yard, everything. Hubert Baptist was in his house, when they done run in the yard, they start to rough up Akeem Baptist and he had a young baby in his house, two weeks old. That's when Hubert came out and we have video footage to show that Hubert come out to make they take him and let go the little brother and they shot Hubert, no resisting arrest, no nothing."

Voice of: Andrea Avaloy
"If they came and said they came for Earl Baptist, they could have took him. they came back, I don't know why they came back. They fired shots in the air, one of our vehicle got shot up, one of our neighbor vehicle got shot up by police, they came back like around 7 last night and shot up the vehicles them. And we have it on camera too."

And though this isn't the first - and probably won't be the last time the Baptist household is raided, the matriarch is still pleading for just a bit of humanity, especially where the young children are involved.

Denise Flowers, Mother of Shooting Victim
"I am as a citizen and the thing that's vexing me is because it was in front of me that they shot my little boy and that hurt me for what, for nothing, because my son came out and was helping his little brother who didn't do anything, c'mon that police are going over limit overpass they are human, they could do anybody could do. They are human just like me and you, you understand."

"The barber has his barbershop and the barber was home with his one-week-old baby. The baby was in there but they didn't care. They have to remember that they have families. They are behaving like they don't have families."

"I am a citizen. I am 55 years old and I know what time it is out here. I have no problem with the police doing their job, it's just the manner which, I didn't see it in black and white that when you go to people's houses you should beat down their children or you should, that's not in the law books, that is their law to beat down people."

But as you heard, the ComPol claimed the men had a firearm - this powerful .45 caliber. But this aggrieved mother said the police have the wrong info.

Cherisse Halsall:
"Let me ask you about a specific allegation, it is said that a point 45 pistol was found in that yard, it is also said that people in the area have the intention of killing a police officer?"

Denise Flowers, Mother of Shooting Victim
"That is not true, that is talking and rumors. This is what is messing up the police, they believe in too much yerisoh, yeriseh, they don't go out and do their job. They listen to what that one there is saying and what this one here is saying and when people don't like you people will try to bring you down. They just need to go out an do their job they are not doing their job they listen to too much yerisoh."

But regardless, both Baptist's are detained at the police station, awaiting charges. And meanwhile, the cycle of trauma continues, with children growing up to fear the police.

Voice of: Andrea Avaloy, Girlfriend of Shooting Victim (Hubert Baptist)
"Ma'am I'm a mother, come on, you know how traumatize my baby is? When she see the police, "ma, police!" Yesterday, "ma, daddy, shot!" how I supposed to feel? We have a life too. They have to remember what goes around comes around. We didn't choose to live in the southside, this is where we grew up. We can't just evacuate and go somewhere else, because it won't be normal for us to just evacuate and live a normal life, we have our loved ones here."

The commissioner added that the police also found sixty rounds of .45 ammunition.

And since that interview, one of the shooting victims has been arrested for the murder of 27-year-old Leslie "Dimes" Gillett. Earl Baptist was charged earlier this evening.

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