James Angelo

September 8, 2008
To:
The Mayor City of Portland
389 Congress St.
Portland ME, 04101.

The Sudanese Community, on behalf of the family of James Angelo Okot, would like to register its frustration and grievances regarding the protection it is rendered in this city. The Sudanese Community lives under fear of many things, one of which is for the lives of its members, and second, for its inability to control the direction of the upbringing of its children. A string of tragedies have been inflicted on them (members of the Sudanese community) in such a short period of time in Portland, which we once thought was a safe city. This is no more; not only by crime committed against our community but also the lack of protection by the law enforcement authorities that have not been able to apprehend the criminals. The following incidences took place some with substantial evidences to have lead to arrest but no arrest ahs thus far been made of any single one:

James Angelo Okot was shot to death while at work on September 7th, 2008
Sam was severely beaten on the street of Portland in July 2008
Gun shots were fired at Mr. Martin Sonksi?s house on March 12, 2008 prompting him to move out of Portland
Mr. Deng was severely shot at Elm Street on December 14th, 2007
Edward Okeny was beaten around Kennedy Park on October 21st, 07 and died two weeks later
Mr. Charles Ben was beaten at his Parking lot at Riverton Park in July 2006, the culprits left their car at the incidence scene, which could have led to some arrests, but none was made.
Mr. Simeon Alolding?s son was shot in January 2002

As law-abiding citizens of the city of Portland, Maine and of the United States we feel that the authorities have let us down through lack of communication, which as the above incidences indicate, have created fear in supposedly our new home of hope. It does not help at all when so frequently; we are being reminded of what we ran away from.

For this, we demand justice and open communications that will result in the apprehension of the at-large culprits. Therefore, the citizens of the Sudanese Community here in Portland Maine should not be treated differently from any other citizens, nor should we live under constant fear of being targeted. We would like to strengthen our new home in America not by living in fear but by feeling protected. Only a sense of protection can strengthen the idea of being law-abiding members of society.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our spokespeople:
Sarah Espichio Edward Laboke
Nyalingwa@netzero.com ellaboke@yahoo.com
207.775.5249 207.712-6041

http://multimedia.boston.com/pub/m/20869910/sudanese_residents_in_portland_maine_no_longer_feel_safe.htm?pageid=1

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James Oryem Angelo
1981 - 2008

PORTLAND

James Oryem Angelo, 27, of Sherman Street died tragically early Sunday morning in Portland.
He was born in the Sudan on January 1, 1981 a son of Angelo Okot and Mary Tutuliano.

James graduated from Portland High School in 1999 where he excelled in the sport of soccer. He was an active coach in community youth soccer programs and Portland United soccer. James saw soccer as a vehicle to engage youth and build community in the Portland area.

He had been employed for the past several months as a security officer at Mercy Hospital in Portland. He was preparing for a career studying Criminal Justice at the Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. James will be remembered at Mercy Hospital for his soft spoken manner, kindness, and his warm smile. He was very committed to the safety and security of all patients and staff at Mercy.

James is survived by his mother and father of Portland and a daughter Elizabeth Amari Angelo. He is also survived by two brothers; Alfred Angelo of Biddeford and Stephen Angelo of Portland and four sisters; Lilly Angelo of South Carolina, Regina, Marcelina and Marianna Angelo all of Portland.

Relatives and friends are invited to visiting hours on Friday, September 12, 2008 from 9-11am and 3-5pm at the Independent Death Care Memorial Chapel at 471 Deering Avenue, Portland.

On Saturday, September 13, 2008, relatives and friends will gather at the Independent Death Care Memorial Chapel at 8:30am to walk to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 307 Congress Street, Portland. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10am on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery in South Portland.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the:

James Angelo Memorial Fund
c/o Human Resources Department Mercy Hospital, 144 State Street, Portland, Maine 04101.

Arrangements are under the guidance of Independent Death, 471 Deering Avenue, Portland. To offer words of condolence to the family sign an online guest book, go to www.independentdeathcare.com.

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'Why is this happening?'
Sudanese say violent incidents leave them living in fear
By TOM BELL and ANN S. KIM, Staff Writers
September 9, 2008


Family, friends and co-workers of James Angelo gather for a memorial service outside Mercy Hospital on Monday. Angelo was shot and killed early Sunday while working as a security guard at the hospital. Acting Police Chief Joseph Loughlin speaks to the media after the memorial service for James Angelo on Monday. Police are asking for the public's help in solving the case. To read the letter from the Sudanese community to the city, Download file Portland's Sudanese community expressed frustration Monday with what members see as the city's failure to curtail growing violence involving Sudanese victims. They voiced their concerns in response to Sunday's fatal shooting of James Angelo, 27, the son of one of Maine's most prominent Sudanese leaders. Angelo, an unarmed security guard at Mercy Hospital, was shot in a hospital parking lot along Winter Street shortly after 4 a.m. as he returned to work after a break. He died later that morning. An autopsy Monday by the state Medical Examiner's Office concluded that Angelo died from a gunshot wound in the area between his upper back and neck. Police, who have yet to identify suspects in the shooting, said multiple shots were fired. They have not said whether Angelo was the victim of a random attack. Witnesses described a possible interaction between Angelo and two people before the shots and reported that two people fled in opposite directions after the shots, according to police. On Monday, a delegation of 11 members of the Sudanese community met at City Hall with Mayor Ed Suslovic, City Manager Joseph Gray, acting Police Chief Joseph Loughlin and Rachel Talbot Ross, president of the NAACP's Portland branch and the city's director of equal opportunity and multicultural affairs. In a letter to officials, the Sudanese leaders said they no longer view Portland as a safe city. They said that police have not made arrests in several incidents of violence against Sudanese victims, particularly over the last two years. The letter listed seven unsolved cases, including a shooting in December of a 20-year-old Sudanese man who was standing outside a Somali community center, and an incident on March 12 in which an unidentified man fired four shots into the home of a Sudanese family on Hammond Street. That shooting prompted the family to leave the city. "The Sudanese community lives under fear of many things, one of which is the lives of its members, and second, for its inability to control the upbringing of its children," the letter said. Loughlin said he could not compare the level of crime affecting the Sudanese community with that of other groups in the city because he did not have statistics available. He said police are working hard to solve the cases listed in the letter and plan to make an arrest in one of them. The letter was delivered on behalf of Angelo Okot, the victim's father and president of the Sudanese Community Association of Maine. Okot described the group as having 2,000 members. He did not attend the meeting at City Hall. Earlier in the day, Okot said he had thought Portland would be a good place for his refugee family to settle. "Now somebody jealously came to rob my lovely son from me to kill him without cause," he said. After a memorial service for his son was held in the parking lot at Mercy Hospital, Okot said he had heard that his son was threatened at work on Aug. 16 in an incident that involved police and a group of young people. Okot said Angelo reported the incident to his supervisor, but Okot worried that not enough was done to ensure his son's safety. "I believe these kids were looking for him," Okot said. The hospital did not return a call seeking comment on the Aug. 16 incident. It has referred questions about the shooting to police. Police said the Aug. 16 incident is just one of many factors in their investigation. Loughlin said police are still working around the clock on the case but have not received many tips. He repeated a call for the public's help. Police are looking for two people who were on Winter Street at the time of the shooting. One was described as a short black man in his early 20s with a slight build and short hair. The man appeared to be clean-shaven and was wearing black pants and a white hooded sweatshirt with a design or print. The other person was described only as wearing a light-colored shirt or jacket. Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 874-8479 or at police.portlandmaine.gov, by clicking on the citizen input link. Loughlin said he does not believe the Sudanese population is being targeted. "This affects our entire community," he said. "This insults our entire community." The tone of Sudanese leaders was more conciliatory after the meeting at City Hall. "It's not really that we feel bad about the police," said Edward Laboke, a relative of Angelo. "We feel, 'Why is this happening?'" Laboke said no assumptions could be made about whether the perpetrators of violence against Sudanese residents are from the Sudanese community or outside of it. "As long as he is a criminal or she is a criminal, we will not care if they are Sudanese or not," he said. Suslovic said the meeting included discussions about employment opportunities and activities for Sudanese youths. Many Sudanese youths feel alienated from Portland's mainstream culture, said Alfred Jacob, 25, who leads a youth program in Kennedy Park that's funded by the Portland Housing Authority. "Our youth are not engaged," he said. "We are not part of the city." Angelo's family is among the 6,000 Sudanese refugees who have resettled in Maine. The figure, provided by Catholic Charities Maine, the only refugee resettlement agency in the state, refers only to refugees for whom Maine was the first home in the United States. Sudanese resettlement in Maine continues today, although the numbers are small, said Arian Giantris, director of the refugee and immigration services program. The Sudanese resettlement in Maine began in the mid-1990s, surged in 2000 because of conflict in the Darfur area of Sudan, and has waned in the past few years, said Wilfreid Plalum, a Sudanese community leader who is related to Angelo. A significant population lives in the Lewiston area, and Sudanese are living in other parts of the state, but Portland has the largest number, he said. On Monday morning, several dozen people gathered for the memorial service in the parking lot where Angelo was shot. His mother, Mary Tutuliano, who works in the hospital's housekeeping department, collapsed and was helped to her feet by hospital staff members. As she walked into the lot, she sang a mourning song in the Acholi language, which is spoken by tribes in southern Sudan and in Uganda. The family's supporters also sang songs in Arabic, a shared language in Sudan. The songs included a Christian hymn, "In Heaven with God." The song speaks about people's ignorance in contrast to God's power to know the truth, according to family members who translated the lyrics. "No one knows about anything that happened," the mourners sang, "but with God there is nothing for him to know." Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at: tbell@pressherald.com

Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:

akim@pressherald.com