Gunned down by Chicago police -- THE EXECUTION OF BILAL ASHRAF On 75th street on Chicago's south-east side is a small storefront mosque called Masjid Al-Qadir. The walls of it's small prayer room are sparsely decorated. An appeal for funds for an Islamic scholar in Syria. A schedule of daily prayers. Large posters featuring sayings from the Koran. At one corner of the room sits a collection box. The money deposited each day helps to keep the landlord at bay for another thirty days. Last month, the donations had another more somber purpose, to provide assistance to a newly widowed woman and her two-year old son. Her late husband, 26-year-old Bilal Ashraf, was one of the masjid's founders and responsible for it's security. On September 24, he was struck down in a barrage of policeman's bullets. Officially, it was reported as a shootout between police and an armed suspect. Friends and activists who investigated the shooting and spoke with many of the neighborhood witnesses take a different view. "They wanted to make sure they killed him. They murdered him." Despite his solid build, Imam Ramee Muhammed, is softspoken and unimposing. He had known Bilal for five years and spoke of what they accomplished together. Turning a trashed storefront into a mosque. Cleaning up drugs and prostitution along a half mile stretch of 75th. Giving out food and clothes to those who needed it. Bilal was responsible for the Masjid's security. "He was charged with the protection of the Masjid, the property, the people's lives," noted Imam Ramee, "if they had any problems he would go to help them." Bilal also looked out for people's basic living needs, added the Imam. "He would take you into his house. He wouldn't charge rent. He wouldn't even allow you to pay." Now Imam Ramee tries to make sense of the loss of a friend and brother in Islam, as he describes the series of events that led to Bilal's death. It began with a loud knock that brought a tired Bilal Ashraf out to the back door of his third floor apartment, located in a predominately Black community on Chicago's south side. Between his work at Al-Qadir and his job as a custodian for the Board of Education, rest was often a luxury. If he had any questions as to who it could be on this late Tuesday morning, the answer wasn't long in coming. Two white men stood on the back porch. "Come on out," they reportedly said, "We know you're in there. We're gonna harass you until you're dead!" Both were detectives assigned to the Gang Crimes Unit. Their were there about a weapons investigation. They wanted to question him. They also had no search warrant. With his wife and two-year old son still not dressed, Bilal wouldn't let the detectives enter. He said he'd meet them out in front of the apartment building. They left, and Bilal went downstairs. He'd never see his family again. According to information gathered by members of the Masjid Al- Qadir and the Flaming Crescent Islamic Society, once Bilal went downstairs, the detectives tried to arrest him. After Bilal objected, he was hit and grabbed from behind. Bilal defended himself. He threw a cop to the ground, grabbed a detective's gun and took off running. At that point, according to Iman Ramee, Bilal was in fear for his life. The facts of what happened next are not entirely clear and accounts are often contradictory. Bilal just ran and never used the gun. The gun went off and Bilal ran. Bilal squeezed off a round while he was running. What was certain was that as Bilal ran for his life, the cops were firing their guns, chasing him around the block, down an alley and up the back staircase to his apartment. At that point, it appeared he was already hit at least twice - in the back and in the leg. All the shooting and commotion had caught the attention of the neighborhood, and kids had run along to see what was going on. By the time Bilal reached his back staircase, a crowd had gathered. What they witnessed was a complete outrage When Bilal was less than a floor away from his apartment, witnesses heard one of the detectives yell out, "Shoot that n*gger! Kill the n*gger!" Bilal reportedly stopped dead in his tracks, turned, dropped the gun, raised his arms in surrender and slowly walked down the staircase. According to witnesses, the cops just opened up with full force on the unarmed man. Minister Tele E'mani Abdullah of the Flaming Crescent Islamic Society described it as "target practice", and indicated that two additional white detectives, who had been parked around the rear of Bilals' apartment, got their shots in as well. Bilal crumpled and fell down the stairs. The police then reportedly dragged his wounded body down and laid it out on the ground. According to the Masjid, some witnesses claimed that the police again shot Bilal for good measure. "Kill the Black son- of-a-b*tch" one detective was heard to say. The crowd responded to Bilal's shooting with anger. Rocks and bottles started to fly. The cops reportedly flagged down a police car to get backup. After at least 20 cops finally arrived on the scene, the crowd began to disperse. Some estimated that Bilal's body lay there as long as two hours before an ambulance came to take him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. As expected, the police attempted to portray Bilal as a loose cannon. They claimed that as detectives attempted to frisk him, Bilal pulled a .45 semi-automatic handgun out from his shirt and opened fire, continuing to shoot as he fled. In this version, killing Bilal was self-defense. This claim is scoffed at by Minister Abdullah - "If you pull an automatic out from your shirt and I'm standing five feet from you, what prevents me from killing your butt....lets use some common sense." Despite all the conflicting stories, there is one certainty that even the police can not deny. With all the gunfire - and estimates range from 18 shots fired according to initial police reports, to more than 30 as reported by the Task Force - not one cop was ever shot, grazed or injured. The bullets struck only Bilal. The police also told the press that in searching the apartment, they found an assault weapon, a shotgun and hundreds of rounds of ammo. But in another report, they claim that these weapons were simply lying out on the porch. Minister Abdullah pointed out that this is an odd claim to make - how did they appear when there was no mention of weapons when the detectives first went to Bilal's back door. The issue of the guns was dismissed by the men gathered in the Masjid. "We don't know what they got," one member put it. They resented how quickly the story was spun to portray Bilal as some dangerous menace, when they felt that it was the detectives who were the ones spraying dozens of bullets all over the neighborhood. It was not the victims' character that should be questioned, but the actions of the police. People felt that the detectives had it in for Bilal - the cops had recently confronted Bilal's parents at their home, demanding to know where he was. Their behavior on Thursday was suspect as well. "You come to somebody's house," observed Imam Ramee, "Unmarked cars. No radios. They had an intention." Minister Abdullah called it an assassination. Imam Ramee labeled it a hit. "They came there to kill," he emphasized. On the evening of September 24, Imam Ramee performed a final act of friendship, as he and other congregants of the masjid washed Bilal's body in the traditional Islamic preparation for burial. It was impossible to miss the numerous bullet holes that marred Bilal's body. For all who knew him, it was a graphic reminder of the crime that the police had committed, and that justice must be served. October 19, 1996 9:29 am HARASSMENT OF MUSLIMS IN CHICAGO As he spoke on the shooting of Bilal Ashraf, Imam Ramee Muhammed also gave examples of police harassment of African- American Muslims in the city of Chicago that has occurred over the last year or so. Some were from Masjid Al-Qadir, others were from a another mosque on Chicago's north side. All of the examples were outrageous. Imprisoned for leaving the gang life: For a good part of his life, the man now known as brother Amin ran in rough circles. He had attained the rank of general with a major street gang. When he joined Masjid Al-Qadir, he put that former life behind him. He settled down, got married and found a seven-day-a-week job. He'd often return to his former haunts, this time armed only with a Koran and a determination to convince old friends to give up the gangster life. One day the police, who did little about the drug trade, decided to pay Amin a visit. As far as they were concerned, he was still a gangbanger. "If you don't tell us where the guns are," they threatened, "we'll lock you up." He had nothing to say and was arrested on false charges. The judge threw out the conviction from Amin's first trial, stating that the case was based on racism. The prosecution pushed for a second trial, and was able to get a jury with 11 white members. Amin was convicted and sent to prison. Police raid mosque during prayer services: On a Friday night in the early summer of 1995, police arrived at a mosque located on Chicago's northside. The cops claimed they were investigating a complaint that the discipline a young boy received was abusive. With no warrant, and in the middle of Jumah, the Friday prayer service, the police insisted on immediately speaking with the Imam, Khalifa Islam. It was akin to marching into a church during mass to interrogate the priest. The Imam informed the police that he would gladly go to their station and talk with them once prayer services were over. Evidently that wasn't the right answer. Twenty cops piled into the mosque. Imam Khalifa was taken down and kicked in the head. As worshipers attempted to defend him they were beaten and maced - some while handcuffed. The children - for who's protection the police claimed to have been there - fled in terror. Upon hearing of the attack, twenty members of Masjid Al-Qadir went into the police station and demanded answers and the release of those arrested. As a show of force, the police brought all of their officers to the front of the station. The brothers refused to leave. After one hour, everyone arrested was bonded out. Racist cops beat a man unconscious: Fahim was a 25-year-old Black man married to a white Irish-American woman. They both were Islamic and lived in a mostly white Chicago neighborhood. Some cops came to their apartment on a mistaken call. The police beat Fahim on the head with a flashlight, and then kicked and stomped him until he was unconscious. The cops told Fahim's wife, "This is what you get for marrying a n*gger." They told Fahim, "The next time we come back we're gonna kill you." A month later the police came back with their guns drawn. Fahim was so afraid he jumped out the window. He survived the fall. Shortly after that incident, he and his wife moved out of the area. VICTIMS PRESENCE FELT AT POLICE BOARD MEETING IN CHICAGO On Thursday night, October 17, 50 people packed into a room in the downtown headquarters of the Chicago Police Department for the monthly Police Board meeting. The Board reviews the more serious brutality charges against police officers and has the authority - though rarely the willingness - to meet out sentences. Some of those in attendance were activists involved in the battles against police brutality. Others were friends and family of victims, as well as those who lived to tell of it. Many were involved in building for the October 22nd National Day of Protest. Present were a contingent of people from different African- American mosques. They demanded justice in the case of Bilal Ashraf, "executed" by police on his back staircase. Also present was Ilsa Guillen, widow of Honduran immigrant Jorge Guillen, who had been beaten and killed by three Chicago police officers while she and her children looked on. Illsa and others attending the meeting denounced the decision by Police Superintendent Rodriguez to drastically reduced the three very minimal OPS recommended suspensions. This meant that one cop received no suspension, one cop got five days unpaid leave and the cop who asphyxiated Jorge was slapped with 15 days off. Murder rewarded with a two-week unpaid vacation. In a move that brought cries of "disgusting" from the crowd, the Superintendent insisted that Ilsa was "misinformed" about his decision while insisting that "I believe in my heart it is right." Present was Regina Woolsley, who's fiancee was found floating in the Chicago river under suspicious circumstances. He was known as "Mandrake" for his efforts to deface tobacco and liquor ads. Police were too quick to call it a suicide, and too slow to investigate. Present was Mary L., a long-time anti-police brutality activist, who said, "I've been talking about police brutality ever since it happened to me. I refuse to go in a hole and hide. If I have to come down here to these meetings by myself, you'll see me again, and again, and again..." Before all the speakers had an opportunity to speak, the meeting was adjourned. Evidently the police department had heard enough of the truth.