Holding of prisoners Protested

1981-1-21 The Randolph Leader  Article

The following article is transcribed from the newspaper due to blurriness that would interfere with the ability to read it, therefore it has been manually transcribed to facilitate ease of reading.   There may be some instances where blurry appearance in the article prevented it's complete transcription, however, for the most part, the majority of the text is correctly transcribed.

The issue which pushed this week's meeting of the Roanoke City Counci beyond two hours in length came into the spotlight when visitors were being given an opportunity to express themselves.

The second visitor to speak was Willie Autry.  After introducing himself and stating that his reason for being present, he was represented before the council by Rudolph Terry, who distributed to city officials and media representatives copies of a letter to the mayor and council from Concerned Citizens of Roanoke and Randolph County, and the and the county NAACP chapter.

The letter charged that on January 5 and January 6, 1981 under orders from Policy Chief Floyd Fetner, "two innocent young men were jailed... and held without charges, without bond, without rights to phone calls and visitation... until Friday afternoon, January 9, 1981." 

According to the letter, the two black men, Willie Autry and Jimmy Green, Franklin, GA, natives now living in Roanoke, were "pressured to confess to a crime which we all not know that they did not commit."  They later passed polygraph (lie detector) tests given in Montgomery, after which they were released.

After pointing out the "indignity" Autry suffered by being carried back to his old neighborhood in Georgia by the chief, the letter requested that the may make public, his findings from the investigation he promised on the afternoon the men were released.

Amid interruptions, Mayor Spec Bonner reported that his investigation showed that Green was jailed on January 5 after a traffic conviction (driving without a license) and was serving time at $10.00 a day to take care of his $40.00 fine; during that time he was being investigated for possible burglary. (Persons in the audience contended that unsuccessful efforts were made to pay the fine.)

As to the Autry case, Bonner admitted that the city made a mistake in not charging Autry with suspicion of burglary and later dropping the charge.  He mentioned bits of evidence casting suspicion on the prisoner.  The mayor said he apologized to Autry at the time of his release.

Chief Fetner, who said he also apologized to Autry, denied that the two prisoners had been deprived of telephone and visitation rights.

Repeating his statement that the city made a mistake, Mayor Bonner said he wanted to say something to all present.  "If we don't wake up," he said, "we are all going to create a bad situation for our young people.  I have been riding on police patrols late at night and I am concerned about what our teen-agers are subjected to — and some of the things they are doing would disgust you.  We need to get our teen-ages off the streets.  I have seen officers' lives endangered and threatened.

"I don't need a demonstration or a protest to make me do my job."  Bonner continued.  "I have given two officers six-day suspensions.  You didn't know about that.  I'm not going to tolerate physical and verbal abuse by officers.  The Autry case came up during a series of burglaries and now, we have had a series of killings.  On Friday and again on Saturday somebody tried to kill two police officers.

"Mr. Autry's feelings are hurt, of course, and mine would be too if I were in his place, but I resent this being made a black-white issue.  I'm not going to enforce disciplinary action in this case."

Rudolph Terry rated the mayor's response "poor," and Autry, father of three, told of the adverse effect his being jailed had on his chance to get a job with Amoco, where he had worked during the construction phase.  Before the meeting was over, Bonner said, "Mr. Autry, I've apologized.  You have no police record with the City of Roanoke in case anyone should check on you."

Wilkie Clark, president of the local NAACP chapter insisted that the police should get sufficient evidence and proof before making an arrest.  He also wanted to see city government restructured so blacks and poor whites don't get left out.

Much of the dialogue in the meeting touched on the importance of improving race relations, and some saw the possiblity of good coming from the frank exchanges.

Rudolph Terry, speaking of Concerned Citizens, said "We are mediators trying to head off trouble, not trouble-makers."

After Clark had expressed the hope that "we can work together," Councilman Hookie Young asked if he would be willing to do anything to make things right — willing to love.  Clark found some difficult with loving folks "with hell in them."  However, when Bonner asked, "Would you ride with Old Spec come night?"  Clark finally said, "I'll be happy to work with you."

Counmcilman Audley Bruner said much of the trouble appears to come from lack of communication.  "If white people would attend council meetings like you, "he said to his black audience, "maybe we would have better understanding."   And he added that he is willing to be talked to individually by any citizen.

So said other council members.

When Councilman Jerrell Hodges wanted to know what the protesters want city officials to do, Rudolph Terry said his point of view is that the problems are arising because of the chief of police.  Others spoke of fear they say is inspired in the black community by Chief Floyd Fetner.  The chief was present throughout the entire meeting, but his presence did ot spare him from attack.

Also coming in for criticism was the city court, where according to Terry, 20 out of 23 cases are against blacks and heavy fines are the rule.

"What has the city offered toit's young people?"  Denorris Wofford asked, coming back to the subject of youth.  He was critical of "roadblocks for blacks." and he suggested a roadblock for the Moose Club.  Bonner was ____ by that suggestion.