SHOOTING, STRATFORD RAID DRAW FBI

Justice Department To Consider Findings In Deciding If Civil Rights Were
Violated

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun a preliminary investigation
of both the recent Stratford High School drug raid in Goose Creek and the
shooting death of a man by North Charleston police earlier this month,
officials confirmed Friday.

The findings will be forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department, which will
look at whether civil rights were violated in either case.

Goose Creek police spokeswoman Casey Fletcher acknowledged that the FBI was
conducting a preliminary investigation of the Nov. 5 drug raid, but said
the department could not comment on it at this time. The Goose Creek Police
Department will issue a statement sometime next week, she said.

North Charleston City Attorney Brady Hair said Friday night that the FBI's
decision to perform a preliminary investigation into the Nov. 7 shooting of
Asberry Wylder came as a result of Mayor Keith Summey's request that the
Justice Department review the case.

"We asked them last week to take a look at it, and they've agreed to
forward it on to the civil rights division in Washington," Hair said.

Summey could not be reached for comment Friday night.

Goose Creek police officers stormed Stratford High School with guns drawn
in an attempted drug raid early on Nov. 5. The scene was caught on the
school's video cameras, sparking a national outcry against the department's
use of force. In addition, some people expressed concern that black
students were targeted.

In an unrelated incident two days later, North Charleston police officers
shot and killed 41-year-old Asberry Wylder on Rivers Avenue during Friday
afternoon rush hour after Wylder shoplifted some meat from a grocery store
and reportedly attempted to rob another business. While several witnesses
claimed Wylder, a black man, was shot a second time after being handcuffed
and beaten, North Charleston police denied that and said he was shot twice
after he stabbed an officer with a knife. The officer wore a protective
vest and was not injured.

The witness statements about Wylder's death provoked outcries from the
Rainbow/Push Coalition, the New York-based Congress of Racial Equality and
the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People.

The organizations also expressed concern about the Stratford drug raid.

Mayor Summey, seeking to avoid any appearance of a cover-up, asked the
Justice Department to investigate the police shooting alongside the State
Law Enforcement Division.

Wylder's family, meanwhile, retained attorney Jack Cordray and one of the
area's high-profile law firms, Motley Rice, to conduct its own investigation.

The purpose of a preliminary investigation conducted by the FBI is to
determine whether there is enough indication of criminal wrongdoing to
prompt a full investigation, according to Kathleen Murphy, spokeswoman for
the Columbia FBI office.

"We can get involved based on our own facts," Murphy said. "We try to
investigate to see if there is any validity to the claims of wrongdoing."

The FBI may intervene in a case for a number of reasons, one being to see
if anyone's civil rights were violated, Murphy said.

If such violations are found, the Justice Department could sue, seeking
court orders to reform police departments, according to the Violent Crime
Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

Two representatives of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow/PUSH
coalition will attend a march today that begins near the scene of Wylder's
shooting on Rivers Avenue and will end at North Charleston City Hall,
according to Elder James Johnson of the coalition.

Parents of Stratford students will attend the march, as well, and two
representatives will speak to participants, Johnson said.

Jackson is currently organizing a protest march for December in regard to
both incidents, and he plans to attend, Johnson said.