Protesters, N.Y. Police Clash After Funeral

NEW YORK â€”  Angry demonstrators threw bricks and bottles at police in a series of clashes Saturday after the funeral of a 26-year-old unarmed security guard who was shot to death by an undercover officer in a drug buy and bust operation that went wrong.

Before the services began in a Brooklyn church, people grabbed an American flag draping the coffin, shredded it and set the pieces afire as they protested the March 16 death of Patrick Dorismond--the third black man slain by police in New York in the last 13 months.

Police said at least 27 people were arrested and 23 officers were injured as hundreds of people surged up and down Flatbush Avenue, one of Brooklyn’s most important shopping streets, smashing some store windows.

Both Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani--the target of the protests--and City Council Speaker Peter F. Vallone condemned the violence and praised the police for acting with restraint.

But the Rev. Al Sharpton, who led a march from the funeral home to the church before the services, charged that police had provoked the incident by appearing in riot gear after being asked not to do so for fears of stirring up the crowd.

“Police officers should receive the thanks of the entire city for the restraint they exhibited in the face of sustained hostility and abuse,� the mayor said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, when you allow demagogues to take over for political and divisive purposes, the American flag gets shredded and burned, steel barricades are hurled and bottles are thrown injuring police officers and civilians,� he added.

Giuliani did not attend the service and has been criticized for releasing information about Dorismond’s police record, including his juvenile files, which had been sealed by a judge.

Dorismond had no narcotics in his possession when he was shot to death during a scuffle with Det. Anthony Vasquez.

Lawyers for Vasquez claim the police officer’s gun went off accidentally. Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau is investigating the incident, which has become a major issue in the mayor’s campaign for the U.S. Senate against First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

On Saturday, widespread anger in Brooklyn’s Haitian community boiled over.

Outside the church, some protesters carried placards depicting Giuliani as a dictator or as the devil.

“Arrest Giuliani,� a sign said.

Police estimated more than 4,000 marchers walked 3 1/2 miles up Flatbush Avenue from the funeral home to the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church--and in a prologue to trouble, some of the mourners broke through metal barricades as the services began and scuffled briefly with police.

Trouble “was brewing, you could see it and they [the police] didn’t take the steps needed to defuse it,� said Norman Siegel, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, who stood in front of the church.

Inside the church, Father Rollin Darbouze told about 1,000 mourners that “life is precious. It is a gift from God.�

Dorismond’s mother, Marie, touched the coffin and collapsed as the casket was carried into the church. She recovered to hear her son praised as a man who loved children.

Police had been preparing for the funeral for days. Elite reinforcements were brought to Brooklyn from other parts of the city and, just before the service ended, a contingent of officers in riot gear marched to the church.

Protesters smashed two police cars with bricks and damaged a telephone booth as frightened shopkeepers along Flatbush Avenue rushed to roll down metal doors over their store windows.

Police said those arrested face charges ranging from disorderly conduct to inciting a riot. Injuries to the police officers included broken fingers, torn ligaments and cuts from glass. Four civilians also were hurt, but their conditions were not disclosed by the police department.

Giuliani visited some of the officers being treated at Kings County Hospital and remained for about 30 minutes.

Vallone, who spoke to reporters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side after the violence was quelled, said he was “very saddened by what happened today . . . violence does not make for constructive change.�

But he also criticized Giuliani for ordering the juvenile file made public.