DC Activist (Mayoral candidate) Found Fatally Shot (7 Times)

[Laughing Mirror]

Man Who Took On Bigwigs Had Filed To Run for Mayor

By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 9, 2006; Page C01

A community activist who made a habit of confronting the powerful and had filed papers to run for D.C. mayor was fatally shot early yesterday in a park a block away from the city's thriving new convention center.

Chris Crowder, 44, was shot multiple times and found by police next to the wheelchair he had used since 1990, when he was shot and paralyzed from the waist down on a playground in the same neighborhood.

...

Crowder had graduated from Howard University and was working his way through law school in 1990 when he was shot the first time. Five years later, during the "60 Minutes" interview with Mike Wallace, Crowder said he had been shot by one of three teenagers who mistook him for a police officer. That attack led to years of health problems, he told Wallace, explaining that he required a nurse daily, medication for bed sores and several skin grafts.

...

"He stood out because of his energy and his passion," said D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), a leading mayoral candidate. "He was an advocate for affordable housing, more services and programs for young people. He spoke very loud. Even when he was challenging the government, he was always the type of person who would walk over and shake your hand. He really seemed concerned about the future of the city."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/AR2006070800861.html

[shadowknows69]

1. "How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?"

takes a real special person to assassinate a guy in a wheelchair.

[shance]

33. Yes. The "vast, right-wing conspiracy" continues.

"We will have good leadership when we protect and defend good leaders".

[blogslut]

2. how awful

I know nothing about this man but geeze, to get shot, live, move on, grow and then die like that...

[applegrove]

3. What a tragedy! Washington DC is not a safe place.

[BeFree]

4. Fighting the powerful

...is dangerous. It is evident that his activism is what lead to his death. It matters not that it was DC, his kind will always be targets.

Everyone knows this, that's why the world has so few activists. Just look at what has become of ours:
The Kennedys
Martin Luther King
Paul Wellstone
John Lennon

[applegrove]

5. Sorry. I meant the crime rate & drug rate in DC. I'm not with you on any

of your claims. Wellstone died in a plane.. as many do. Small planes are much less safe than big ones. We know who killed Lennon, King and the Kennedy's. They were nuts. Pathetic little nutty men. And if that is too much for you to handle..fine. Leave me out of it.


I mean DC is dangerous as many parts of the USA are. Too many guns, not enough social programs. Kids bonding over gang relationships rather than through school. Sad country you have. The powerful are responsible for these tragedies. But in the way that they have fought against a just society.. and health care.. and want a gun culture and use fear.. as a means to wealth.

The distribution of wealth in the USA is closer to that of Russia and Mexico..than Canada. So you have the crime and the desperation of those countries. A choice your Republican leaders and elite industry makes again and again.

Very sad for you. To be the richest country in the world.. and have the worst distribution of wealth of any western democracy.

[BeFree]

6. They were nuts

And bushco is full of nuts. You think bushco wouldn't have killed our people? Do you have absolute faith in what the $media tells you?

Are you of the opinion that bushco draws a line and says that line we will not cross?

[applegrove]

7. Like I said. You lost me. I don't agree with anything you are saying.

[Occulus]

12. Proverb:

If you think you see an enemy behind every Bu$h, it does not follow that you are wrong.

[applegrove]

13. You are missing the sadness and tragedy of an activist dying for

no reason.

[Occulus]

16. Don't presume to tell me what my emotions are. n/t

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Occulus]

18. Which is it?

What you just said:

"bushco loves folks like you. It is what makes their world go round.

A little less faith in the powers that be would make them less powerful. Try it sometime, you may like it."


Or what you said in post #6:

BeFree Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-09-06 11:03 AM
Response to Reply #5
6. "They were nuts

And bushco is full of nuts. You think bushco wouldn't have killed our people? Do you have absolute faith in what the $media tells you?

Are you of the opinion that bushco draws a line and says that line we will not cross?"


I don't get it.....

[BeFree]

26. Both

bushco loves people who won't question everything that happens, especially when what happens tends to reinforce their power.

Does anyone think that bushco has drawn a line for itself that keeps them from doing anything? It is obvious that there are people who, indeed, do think bushco wouldn't do this, that, or the other, that have drawn a line somewhere. That mindset is what gives them power to do the things they do.

[applegrove]

20. My fight is for fewer guns, better public schools and a distribution of

wealth which is at least conscionable. So stuff like this will not happen. And it is a much bigger problem that the issue you take on. All it would take would be to get rid of Bush and few crazies and all your problems would be solved. The issues in the USA are much more serious than that. You are dealing with a power network run by evil people who have one goal..to diminish the democracy so they don't have to bother with it and have free reign to run around making themselves happy (which due to personality disorders - involve "taking something from others" in the case of many at the head of the GOP). For sure conspiracies happen. But the problem is the reality that the architects mess with. That is much more dangerous than what you claim happened in this park. GOP has christians running around hating gays.. when the whole amazing thing about christianity was that it was so ahead of its time with the message of love. So profound were those changes that took place in religion in that millenium..that its message..when the message was practiced.. was a great tool to teach people to live together well and help each other. Murders went down. People living in Buddist or chritian or Jewish or other societies..learned to love all people (okay..only all people of the same religion as them). Before these ideas... people only loved those in their clans. And everyone else was a target for hatred. It was amazing. Now the GOP has these very same people learning to hate and to not teach expansiveness in how humans relate to one another. And what a horrible wast of christianity that is.

The number of lives and unhappiness that will result from teaching "baser instincts" to people ... is unbelievable. The number of people hurt.

For sure there are nuts running around and destroying lives. But you miss the point that * & his ilk don't need to shoot someone 7 times in the stomach. They just need to change the thinking and control information and diminish the enlightenment.. and systematically..the toll and lives pushed aside as they move people into being scapegoated and out of better lives... is much greater. Not to mention wars of choice executed very, very slowly.

I've actually been followed to Europe by a sick nut. And seen the wheel of my car blow off and run down the road ahead of me when I didn't know he existed and I was his enemy - his scapegoat - for all the things he could not accept about himself..and all the things he was afraid of. The sick puppy who would do that to me and all my friends and everyone I loved.. is a much less sophisticated animal that the ones you have in Washington. I know the difference because I know both types (having watched America for the last few years). * handlers would not risk the end of their 30 year empire for such a small thing as silencing a man. You are thinking very small when you think some famous activist was killed. You are choosing the easy way out (oh a few bad people, maybe twelve, we can put them in jail). It is seriously much worse and much more subtle than that. And much harder work to get your country out of this situation. Don't take the easy way out. Don't go with the sexiest explanation. You need to be discerning. And you are not being so. There is nothing out of the usual with someone being murdered in Washington DC. Particularly someone who was in a bad neighbourhood.

[Cha]

29. I agree that it is

possible. Too much of a coincidence that all these activists and Democrats are killed by lone nuts and accidents.

Oh yeah and kenny boy is really dead too :crazy:

[Occulus]

8. Thus,

This was a crime ordered by the very wealthy and powerful he was fighting against, in a bid to protect the power they have from lil' ol' HIM.

Whoever investigates this better be willing to follow the money to get to the truth....

[applegrove]

11. ...

:eyes:

[Breeze54]

14. Another man with him was also shot and

is in critical condition. Hopefully he will recover and be able to ID the perps!

[Occulus]

19. We can hope so.

As someone else said, it's pretty obvious why he was shot this time.

They always try to send the same chilling message throughout history, don't they?

"Stop fighting us, or we'll kill you."

Isn't that also how the mob operates?

[alfredo]

30. didn't Cindy get threatened by A DC police official?

OK, it was unidentified police officers on a web site forum.

Still it is not becoming of a public servant

[Breeze54]

9. What a shame! His poor mother.

:-(

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/AR2006070800861.html

snip-->

Crowder was among 12 candidates who had filed official petitions to run for mayor. He had filed as a member of the D.C. Statehood Green Party, which advocates for the elimination of federal oversight of the District, statehood for the city and reparations for descendants of slaves, among other causes.

"He said he wanted to help the city be better," his mother, Gracie Brown, said of Crowder's mayoral bid. "He didn't have much money, but he was running."

Crowder shared an apartment with his mother on Seventh Street NW, a few blocks from the scene of the shooting. Brown rushed to the park after neighbors knocked frantically on her door. A detective told her that her son had been shot seven times, she said. Yesterday afternoon, a steady stream of neighbors visited and telephoned her to offer condolences.

Crowder had graduated from Howard University and was working his way through law school in 1990 when he was shot the first time. Five years later, during the "60 Minutes" interview with Mike Wallace, Crowder said he had been shot by one of three teenagers who mistook him for a police officer. That attack led to years of health problems, he told Wallace, explaining that he required a nurse daily, medication for bed sores and several skin grafts.

One question bothered Fenty and others yesterday:

"How does a guy in a wheelchair get shot?" the council member asked.

http://media3.washingtonpost.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/07/08/PH2006070801146.jpg
Gracie Brown displays a photo of son Chris Crowder,
who had filed papers to run for D.C. mayor.
"He wanted to help the city be better," she said.
Photo Credit: By Robert E. Pierre -- The Washington Post Photo


What a waste!
My sympathies to his family and his community.
:kick: and Recommended.

[StellaBlue]

10. Wow.

:wow:

I don't know much about this story, but this guy sounds like a hero.

[BeFree]

17. A hero indeed

All the more reson for bushco to take him out. Can't have real heroes running around influencing people to stand up for their rights.

[Breeze54]

21. er...ah..

Not that I think b* is a great guy or anything
but how do you come to this conclusion?
Even the police in DC say they don't know who did this.
Perhaps throwing out wild allegations isn't wise?
:shrug:

[BeFree]

23. You think bushco...

... likes heroes rallying people to stand up for their rights? What makes you think that they wouldn't take out anybody who opposes them?

[Breeze54]

31. Where did I say that?

:silly:

[BeFree]

34. Good question

What did you say? And what about bushco is it that you trust? Can you answer that?

[Breeze54]

35. Where did I say that?

Are you hitting the bong today? A little hair of the dog that bit ya? :beer:

:shrug:

[Occulus]

24. If someone's spouse is murdered, who is usually among the first to be

questioned?

It's completely reasonable to consider the possibility that his activism had something to do with it.

What's with all the naysayers and poo-poohers today? Murdering to silence someone who is a threat to one's power isn't exactly a new idea!

[Breeze54]

32. It's also very possible

that drug dealers in the area are or were pissed off at him!
It's also very possible that someone was pissed off at the other guy!
It's also possible that it was random.
It's possible that he was a target!

There are many possibilities.

Bush isn't running for mayor of DC, is he? :shrug:

"If someone's spouse is murdered, who is usually among the first to be questioned?"

The other spouse?? :sarcasm:

What's that got to do with the price of fish on Sunday?
:crazy:

[Judi Lynn]

22. There's a photo of the moment in which Chris Crowder was approached

by Bill Cosby in a recent "speech." I can't copy and paste it here, as there's a copyright attached to the photo at this link:

http://www.washingtoninformer.com/EDUBillCosby2006May25.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank. downstairsparts, for the news on what happened to this man. What a damned shame. He was one heroic person who simply didn't give up, and he continued to work for the common good in a town infested with despicable right-wing politicians.

[RagingInMiami]

25. self-delete

[Laughing Mirror]

27. A lovely tender soul shines through that wonderful photo of him

Looking up from his wheelchair at Bill Cosby. Thank you so much Judi Lynn for this rare find. I hope everybody clicks on your link and looks at it. I did not realize we were not allowed to link to photos that carry photographer credits.

There's a local TV video story at this link. His mother says he had just had his campaign posters printed up and was so excited about them.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0706/342890.html

[Judi Lynn]

28. Thanks for posting the link to the newsclip.

I hope his friend pulls through his injuries, and I hope he can shed some light on this attack.

Hoping maybe someone whose life he touched will try to pick up the torch and keep his level of activism for the community going. There are so few people willing to make the sacrifice.

[mom cat]

36. Thanks for the link. It is so sad and the shooting is such an outrage.

He had just filed as a Green Party candidate for mayor. :cry: ...:grr: