SUPPORTERS RALLY FOR A CALL FOR JUSTICE

WHITE PLAINS - Angry words followed a minute of silence yesterday as close to 200 people gathered at the spot where Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley was killed to protest the circumstances surrounding his death and a grand jury's decision not to indict the four Westchester policemen who shot him down.

"Chris Ridley was shot and killed. Murdered. And nobody is responsible,'' said the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, where Ridley was a parishioner. "We gather here to register our anger and discontent. We cannot rest until we are sure that something could not have been done differently."

Ridley, 23, was killed in front of 85 Court St. on Jan. 25 as he tried to arrest a mugging suspect. Off duty and in civilian clothes, he was hit six times by a volley of at least 10 shots fired by county police who converged on the scene. After what authorities described as an exhaustive investigation that included extensive video evidence and testimony from 62 witnesses, a Westchester grand jury voted last week not to indict county Detective Robin Martin and Officers Christian Gutierrez, Jose Calero and Frank Oliveri, concluding that Ridley did not react to repeated orders to drop his gun.

Ridley, hailed as a hero, was posthumously promoted to the rank of detective and his badge was retired.

Richardson and other speakers called on the state Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Justice Department to conduct their own independent investigations, and demanded that Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore make public the evidence that was presented to the grand jury. He also called for a countywide "criminal justice summit," inviting law enforcement to answer questions from the public and listen to community concerns.

"We're not trying to bring anyone down, we're trying to get justice,'' Richardson said.

As he spoke, some in the crowd punctuated his remarks by yelling, "Murder!'

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The Rev. W. Darin Moore of Mount Vernon, president of United Black Clergy of Westchester, told the crowd that the "blood of Detective Christopher Ridley cries out to us."

"We cannot allow this to happen again,'' Moore said.

Ridley's parents, Felita Bouche and Stanley Ridley, thanked the throng huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain for their support.

"As a mother, you cry and you pray every day,'' Bouche said before the 20-minute rally began.

"I just want justice. You can't tell me that you can investigate a murder in this many days and then come back and say it was no one's fault. No.''

"This is a global issue,'' said Damon Jones, executive director of the Westchester chapter of the National Black Police Association. "Black cops are being looked at as perps and thugs. We are asking for justice, for a clear representation of the facts.''

Since Ridley's death, Jones has repeatedly called for more training for those in law enforcement and for the hiring of more African-American police, particularly in Westchester's urban communities.

"It's common sense,'' he said afterward. "How can a city like Mount Vernon, which is 62 percent black, have a police gang unit that's all white?''

When Richardson told demonstrators that the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was to appear, canceled at the last minute, some shouted, "That's OK. We're here!"

Richardson noted that representatives from the Nation of Islam and the National Action Network were on hand.

"This is no picnic,'' he said as the 20-minute rally ended. "You don't have a picnic in the rain. We're here because we're serious. This is not the last you'll hear about this. We have much more to say, and we're not going away."

Richard Clarke, a retired New York City police detective from Garnerville, said he turned out in the rain because he wants to see law enforcement held accountable.

"It's a scary situation,'' he said of Ridley's death. "If you can shoot a cop, then who's safe?"

Clarke, who recalled being stopped and searched by another officer who mistook him for a perpetrator while he was chasing a drug suspect, said that "attitudes and mentalities have to change."

"And that can only happen through training, talking about this and understanding," he said.

"This is one of too many tragic incidents that involve the killing of a black man,'' said Surya Peterson, a retired administrative assistant from White Plains. "The fact that these officers indicated they were following their training indicates to me that the training wasn't correct."

The demonstration began at 4:55 p.m. - the time Ridley was killed. Police, who had expected a larger crowd, closed the Court Street block where the rally was held for about two hours, but reported no major traffic problems.

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