NAACP Award Ceremony Overshadows Justice for Slain Teen

By Jim E. Winburn

-One of the key elements in the McDade case has been the lack of any video. The McDade family is stunned by the fact that officers did not engage the camera in their patrol car the night Kenneth McDade was killed. -Photo by Terry Miller

They took up signs in his memory. They lined the street and shouted at passersby so Pasadena would not forget 19-year-old Kendrec McDade’s name or how he died.
The demonstration last week took place less than 30-feet from the hotel entrance where city and police officials under intense public scrutiny for the McDade shooting received various honors from the NAACP Pasadena chapter’s annual awards dinner. But those outside refused to be quiet.
On Thursday, Sep. 13, the Pasadena Branch of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted its 27th Annual Ruby McKnight Williams Awards Dinner at the Pasadena Hilton on South Los Robles Ave. Serving as master of ceremonies was Phillip L. Sanchez, Chief of Police for the Pasadena Police Department.
Family and members of the community who demonstrated outside the Hilton responded with outrage. Retired City of Pasadena employee James Green, who attended the demonstration, said the Chief of Police’s presence at the NAACP sent the “wrong message” to a community still in shock over the McDade shooting – and while still waiting for the results of ongoing investigations into his death by both the FBI and the Officer Independent Review Group.
“The chief is a bad apple, and it’s been time to get him out of there,” said Green. “If you take the chief out, people will know that you can’t come here thinking you can get away with something … and everybody’s going to pat you on the back. If we don’t do something, nobody’s going to be safe walking up and down these streets.”
The awards dinner at the Hilton honored several people, including City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris who received the President’s Award. In an email announcement sent out by McDade family attorney Caree Harper, Bagneris was identified as one of the 12 defense attorneys representing the two Pasadena officers “who killed Kendrec McDade and left him handcuffed on ground and crying out in agony.”
In the email Harper said: “They’re currently in litigation against the city of Pasadena with the City Attorney representing the city – the timing couldn’t be more horrible.”
According to Joe Brown, president of the NAACP Pasadena chapter, the honorees had been selected over nine months ago on rigorous criteria, such as being recommended by members of the community and demonstrating significant contributions toward improving civil rights and race relations.
The protest included nearly 30 participants who assembled on the sidewalk outside the Pasadena Hilton, holding up signs and calling out to drivers to “Honk for justice!” The demonstration was peaceful for the most part, except for a minor incident when Harper attempted to crash the award ceremony taking place inside the hotel. But hotel security prevented her from entering the lobby.
“I think this is a slap in the face to my grandbaby,” said Alfred Nathaniel McDade, the grandfather of the slain teen. “They’re giving out awards when they should be thinking about how the family feels about all this … about the loss of the life of my grandbaby.”
When asked how he felt about the progress into the investigation of his grandson’s death, he said, “I’m not satisfied; if the truth be known (the investigation) is just going along with the police chief, and whatever he has to say. And I don’t like it.”
However, there was a difference in opinion in the African-American community toward protesting the NAACP at the awards dinner.
In his Sep. 12 column for The Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley Journal News, an independent African-American newspaper, Cameron Turner said, “I commend the Pasadena NAACP for shrugging off criticism from an L.A. civil rights group and moving forward with plans to recognize Pasadena Police Chief Philip Sanchez and Pasadena City Attorney Michele Bagneris at tonight’s 27th Ruby McKnight Williams Awards Dinner.”
The civil rights group Turner spoke of in his column was Los Angeles-based Project Islamic HOPE, whose director, Najee Ali, organized the protest against the awards dinner.
Turner also wrote in his column that the NAACP was right to honor the chief and city attorney “because, like all of the individuals being saluted this evening, Sanchez (who will serve as emcee) and Bagneris (who will receive the President’s Award) have distinguished themselves through honorable service to our community – including the response to the McDade tragedy.”
But the issue of deserved distinction was not the case in point, according to Reverend Dr. Lewis E. Logan II, who showed his support at the demonstration. He said the awards dinner showed a lack of response to the family’s need for justice and healing.
“There’s still a lot of hurt – the wound is still fresh,” said Logan, co-founder of Ruach Christian Community Fellowship. “And I think there’s a sense of betrayal because the NAACP, which is suppose to protect those in the community who are being brutalized, is awarding the very entity that has perpetrated the brutality.”
As of Sept. 14, McDade’s mother, Anya Slaughter, has dropped three Pasadena police officials from her civil-rights lawsuit against the city. The complaint filed on behalf of Slaughter dismisses Police Chief Phillip Sanchez, Lt. Phlunte Riddle and Det. Keith Gomez.
The previous complaint, filed by Harper on behalf of McDade’s parents, named the city, Sanchez, Riddle, Gomez, Griffin and Newlen. Harper no longer represents Slaughter, but continues to represent the father, Kenneth McDade.
McDade was shot and killed on Mar. 24 by two Pasadena police officers responding to a bogus 911 call for armed robbery. Officers said they thought McDade was reaching for a gun in his waistband to fire at them, but he was found to be unarmed.

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