LAKEPORT — A prayer circle will be led by a civil rights group for a man accused of murder today at noon at the Lake County Courthouse.
Booker T. Neal, in charge of community relations services for the U.S. Department of Justice, will monitor the delivery of a complaint regarding police misconduct in the Renato Hughes case. A complaint will also be sent from Oakland to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C.
According to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights based in San Francisco, friends and family of both the accused party and one of the victims will be in attendance. Those supporting Hughes will be dressed in all white. Supporters of Rashad Williams, victim, will also be in attendance.
“Police have accepted key pieces of evidence from the gunman, who claims he found them at the crime scene on the floor of a room that had already been searched and photographed by police,” said Jakada Imani, spokesperson for the Ella Baker Center in a press release. “If you were talking about a black drug dealer shooting and killing two young white men, the gunman would be in jail. But when the gunman is white and the youth who are lying dead in the street are black and the prosecution is in Lake County, their black friend is thrown in jail and charged with murder.”
Sgt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department said, “We have no comment on this matter at this time.”
Hughes, of San Francisco, is accused of two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Christian Foster, 22, also of San Francisco and Williams, 21, of Pittsburg. Although Hughes was not the actual shooter in the murder, he is being charged with the crime under a form of vicarious liability called “provocative act murder.” Under this act, District attorney Jon Hopkins said, “You are liable even if you didn”t kill someone; if you engaged in some provocative act likely to result in lethal resistance.”
The NAACP has also been active in monitoring the case. According to Dr. Amos C. Brown, president of NAACP in San Francsico, their group will stay with this case until all indicators suggest that Hughes has received justice and a fair trial.
Hughes is due back in court on Jan. 16. A motion for a change in venue will be addressed by Judge Arthur Mann at that time.
Contact Rene Morales at rmorales@record-bee.com.
