 "Photo: Yen-Yi Liu")
An 18-wheeler's horn resounds loudly in the early morning traffic. The driver waves at two solemn silhouettes holding a large banner up on the overpass. Their sign simply reads: "Stop Killer Cops."
Seven people protested police brutality and racial profiling on the 12th Street bridge over Interstate 35 Tuesday in a demonstration organized by the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The demonstration was part of a continuing process that has been going on for about a month and a half, with an average of two protests a week.
The protests aim at raising public awareness about alleged police misconduct in three fatal shootings of blacks that occurred in Austin within the last 15 months, said Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP.
Linder said though the protest focused on the three specific incidents, police brutality is a widespread phenomenon.
"The numbers speak for themselves," he said. "The victims are overwhelmingly black, most of them unarmed. The shooters are all white."
Police brutality toward blacks is a historical problem that dates back to the racist South but is now common throughout the country, Linder said. He added that the situation has gotten worse lately, with the killing of three black Austinites since June 2002.
East Austin resident Sophia King was killed by an Austin police officer last year. The officer was not indicted by the Travis County grand jury, but the case is currently being investigated by the FBI.
Tension between East Austin activists and police officials increased in recent months with the fatal shooting of Jesse Lee Owens by an Austin police officer June 14 and that of Lennon Johnson by a Travis County sheriff's deputy July 24.
In all three cases, officers were white, and victims of the shootings were black.
The Austin Police Department declined to comment on the specifics of the cases.
"These cases are still under investigation," said Laura Albrecht, Austin Police Depart-ment spokeswoman.
Even though the protests have been rather small in numbers with an original "mass protest" of about 20 participants, Linder said he is confident of the effect on Austinites.
"I think it's been very successful thus far," he said.
Linder said the protests are kept intentionally small so that they won't crowd the streets and are designed to inform citizens who will later bring about policy changes through voting.
"We will continue until we get the policies changed or until the killings will stop," he said.
Ann del Llano, spokeswoman for the police accountability project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, has been protesting against police brutality since 1998. She said Tuesday's protest was one of the most successful in which she has participated.
"We're being very effective," she said. "Hundreds of people are honking."
Linder agreed and said he took waving, honking and calls to the NAACP's office as positive responses to his efforts.
"We're very confident we can make a difference in this city," he said.
The next protest will take place at the intersection between Eighth Street and I-35 Friday at noon.
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