RIVIERA BEACH RALLY
Amid pain, calls for action Speakers at rally for slain drummer demand investigation, police policy changes.
RIVIERA BEACH — They stood in unison Monday night as songs and prayers mixed with calls for change.
Hundreds packed into Hilltop Missionary Baptist Church for a community rally and benefit for the family of Corey Jones, the 31-year-old drum- mer who was fatally shot along Interstate 95 on Oct. 18 by a Palm Beach Gardens police officer.
“This is not about a moment. It’s about a movement,” said Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters, who organized and led Monday night’s rally. “It’s about a mission. One voice, one community.” Read past Post stories on the Corey Jones shooting at PalmBeachPost.
Community leaders, church officials and elected officials were among those attending the rally, which grew spirited and boisterous at times as those attending voiced agreement with speakers who called for a full investigation of the shooting and changes to police department policies.
Among those in attendance was Joe Russo, the Palm Beach Gardens City Council member and former mayor, who extended his condolences to
Jones’ family.
“I’ve served on our City Council for 26 years,” Russo told the audience. “Last Sunday was the darkest I’ve ever spent, and last week was probably one of the worst weeks I’ve ever spent.”
Russo drew some of the loudest applause of the night when he told the crowd that Jones’ death should never have occurred.
“I wasn’t there and I don’t know what happened,” Russo said. “But the one thing is, reading everything about this young gentleman, he should have never been taken from us.”
Russo called for a full investigation into the shooting and noted that many who attend schools in Palm Beach Gardens are from neighboring cities with predominantly black communities.
“I want them to know that they are welcome in our city,” he said. “I want them to know that they can come into our city and be safe.”
Sylvester Banks Sr., Jones’ grandfather and one of the family members at the rally, thanked those attending for their support. Local boxing promoter Don King also was at the rally and donated $10,000 to benefit Jones’ family.
Masters, a bishop at nearby New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, said he and other community leaders will soon travel to Washington, D.C., to petition leaders of Congress for an independent investigation into Jones’ shooting. The group will also petition for a federal law prohibiting police offi- cers in plain clothes and unmarked vehicles from interacting with members of the public without probable cause.
Masters also renewed his call for all police departments in Palm Beach County to equip officers with body cameras and cameras on the dashboard of police cars.
The Rev. Griffin Davis Sr., whose church hosted the event, spoke directly to area law-enforcement officials, including Palm Beach Gardens Police Chief Stephen Stepp and Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
“Palm Beach Gardens, you need to stop the killing,” Davis said. “If the chief can’t control his department, he needs to resign. If Sheriff Bradshaw can’t control his department, he needs to resign.”