Marchers protest appeals court's action in Abner Louima torture case

NEW YORK (AP) _ About 150 marchers gathered outside a federal courthouse Sunday to protest an appeals court's overturning the convictions of three white former police officers in the torture case of

Sunday, March 3rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ About 150 marchers gathered outside a federal courthouse Sunday to protest an appeals court's overturning the convictions of three white former police officers in the torture case of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.

``Don't blame us when our people get tired of marching, tired of holding press conferences, tired of saying, 'No justice, no peace,'' said City Councilman Charles Barron, who addressed the rally at the Brooklyn courthouse.

On Thursday, a federal appeals court ordered a new trial for Officer Charles Schwarz 36, who denies he was in the bathroom when Officer Justin Volpe sodomized Louima with a broken broomstick in 1997.

The court found there was insufficient evidence to sustain the obstruction-of-justice convictions of Schwarz and Officers Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder.

Marcher Nicole Bird called the appeals court ruling ``a slap in the face to Americans.''

``If the justice system doesn't work for some of us,'' she said, ``it doesn't work for any of us.''

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, addressing the appeals court ruling on Sunday, said he had visited officers at the stationhouse where the torture occurred, and told them, ``What we need to do is make sure that it never happens again.''