What did Charles Ramsey say, and to whom did he say it? Did he tell the truth about what he said, and did others lie about what he said?
These will be some of the juicy questions expected to surface in federal court this week, when the former Washington, D.C., police chief comes to testify about the mass arrests in Pershing Park in 2002. What a spectacle: Ramsey, the sitting police chief in Philadelphia, goes on the stand in a case that could wind up with the Justice Department going after him and others in a criminal case involving perjury and obstruction.
Ramsey is not the only top cop whose behind is in a sling. Assistant Chief Peter Newsham is also scheduled to testify. Ditto Terrence Ryan, D.C. police veteran general counsel. Among the unsettled questions, besides Ramsey’s orders, are what happened to basic police evidence? How did it disappear? Who disappeared it?
What we have here is your basic cover up, with police brass sweeping documents under the rug.
The case goes back to Sept. 22, 2002. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund were holding meetings in downtown D.C. At similar sessions in Seattle, protesters against globalization had wrecked parts of downtown. Chuck Ramsey, then our police chief, vowed it would never happen here.
On the morning in question, protesters gathered in Pershing Park, at 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, between the John Wilson Building and the Willard Hotel. All was calm and peaceful. Among them were journalists, tourists, folks going to work. Police surrounded the park, arrested 400 people, bused them to the Blue Plains training facility and hog-tied them with plastic restraints.
Ramsey was forced to apologize for his troops, but in the process he said he never gave the order for the mass arrest. Problem is, too many cops heard him say something to the effect: “Lock those [bleeps] up.”
Their accounts came to light in the two cases in which some of the protesters sued the city for false arrest. The city fought the suits but eventually settled for a total of $22 million, plus $2.4 million in attorney fees.
The other things that came to light were the black hole surrounding key pieces of evidence. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, a District native, was furious that cops and their lawyers seemed to have lost parts of crucial radio runs and the standard “running resume” account of the arrests. Sullivan asked federal magistrate judge John Facciola to investigate; his hearing is scheduled to begin Tuesday and run through Thursday. He will then report to Sullivan, who could ask the Justice Department to begin a criminal investigation.
On day one, Sgt. Doug Jones is expected to say he saw the running resume and handed it to the general counsel. On Wednesday afternoon, Newsham will have to explain who ordered the arrests; Ryan will be asked what happened to key evidence.
And on Thursday morning, Chuck Ramsey is slated to testify under oath about the orders he gave that fateful morning. And why. And to whom. And whether he changed his account.
Want to see a police chief squirm? Be there.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
