Office of the Mayor of Atlanta
To the Honorable Shirley Franklin
We the members and friends of the Ethiopian-American community express our deepest concern over the fatal shooting of Surafel Assaminew, a final year Electrical Engineering student of Stone Mountain, GA.
Surafel was shot and killed by police in Cobb County at noon on Tuesday, September 16th 2003. He succumbed to five bullet wounds fired by two police officers although he was not armed with a deadly weapon at the time.
Surafel Assaminew was the son of the late renowned Ethiopian journalist Assaminew Gebrewold. He was known to many in his community as a talented young poet lyricist, and musician.
Initial police reports assert that Surafel was involved in an altercation with a former roomate wherein neighbors called 911 to alert police of the disturbance. Police located Surafel in a driveway approximately a block away from the place of the incident holding a 4 inch wooden board in his hand. Claiming ‘self-defense’ police then shot live ammunition at Surafel who they said refused to drop the wooden board. Additional police and news reports also assert that Surafel had a history of mental illness and was undergoing treatment.
The two police officers are now on administrative leave. However details of the incident have not been clearly investigated and reasons for the fatal shooting do not appear to be justified. On behalf of his family and friends we the undersigned are calling for a full and open investigation regarding the untimely death of Surafel Assaminew.
Click here to sign the petition
http://ocopy.com/petition.html
Below are a few links highlighting Surafel Assaminew’s poems, music and interviews:
www.abesha-media.com/archives/0burntface/burntsurafel.html
www.seleda.com/oct01/30questions.shtml
www.seleda.com/july/hustle.shtml