"Drop All Charges": Demonstration for Saleem Osman
Title
"Drop All Charges": Demonstration for Saleem Osman
Description
A protestor is pictured next to a police barricade holding a sign at chest level that reads “DROP ALL CHARGES! FREE SALEEM.” In the background of the photograph, there is a police officer looking away from the camera. The demonstration took place on May 27, 1994, a day after taxi driver and CAAAV organizer for the Lease Drivers Coalition (LDC), Saleem Osman, was beaten and arrested by plainclothes policemen from the Transit Police and Midtown South Precinct who never identified themselves [1].
The racially motivated police brutality took place while Osman was responding to an assist call from another South Asian taxi driver. Osman was dragged from his cab and beaten by the unidentified officers, suffering “injuries to his head, neck, legs, and wrists which required medical attention.” The officers fabricated two charges: assaulting two police officers and resisting arrest [2].
Osman practiced law in Lahore, Pakistan for five years before becoming a law professor, and after moving to NYC, he began driving a yellow cab. Osman was new to the CAAAV staff and had just become the organizer to the LDC in 1994 [3]. The LDC pushed for the rights of taxicab drivers, many of which were from South Asia. Some issues they organized for were health insurance for drivers, geography and English classes, and organizing against the increase in lease prices [4].
Over 100 Asian Americans and yellow cab drivers banded together to protest the false charges brought on Osman, walking from Police Plaza to Central Booking [5]. He was kept in custody for over 24 hours, but it was through the efforts of all these protestors that Osman was released.
1. “New York City Incidents”. CAAAV Voice, Vol 5, no. 1 (Spring 1994): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
2. "New York Incidents."
3.“New Staff." CAAAV Voice, Vol 5, no. 1 (Spring 1994): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
4. "Communities in NYC." CAAAV Voice, Vol 5, no. 1 (Spring 1993): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
5. "New York Incidents."
The racially motivated police brutality took place while Osman was responding to an assist call from another South Asian taxi driver. Osman was dragged from his cab and beaten by the unidentified officers, suffering “injuries to his head, neck, legs, and wrists which required medical attention.” The officers fabricated two charges: assaulting two police officers and resisting arrest [2].
Osman practiced law in Lahore, Pakistan for five years before becoming a law professor, and after moving to NYC, he began driving a yellow cab. Osman was new to the CAAAV staff and had just become the organizer to the LDC in 1994 [3]. The LDC pushed for the rights of taxicab drivers, many of which were from South Asia. Some issues they organized for were health insurance for drivers, geography and English classes, and organizing against the increase in lease prices [4].
Over 100 Asian Americans and yellow cab drivers banded together to protest the false charges brought on Osman, walking from Police Plaza to Central Booking [5]. He was kept in custody for over 24 hours, but it was through the efforts of all these protestors that Osman was released.
1. “New York City Incidents”. CAAAV Voice, Vol 5, no. 1 (Spring 1994): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
2. "New York Incidents."
3.“New Staff." CAAAV Voice, Vol 5, no. 1 (Spring 1994): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
4. "Communities in NYC." CAAAV Voice, Vol 5, no. 1 (Spring 1993): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
5. "New York Incidents."
Creator
Betsy Ho
Date
May 27, 1994
Contributor
Digitized by: Frank Chiang and Van Anh Tran
Catalogued by: Sam Marsh
Catalogued by: Sam Marsh
Rights
Copyright is held by CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities.
Identifier
Photo115
Files
Citation
Betsy Ho, “"Drop All Charges": Demonstration for Saleem Osman,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed December 22, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2493.