Chicago-Midwest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:

May 17, 2010 Stephanie Gadlin

(773) 224-6500 ofc.; (202) 286-9829 mobile

Stephanie.Gadlin@mail.house.gov

Congressman Bobby Rush, Atty. Jim Montgomery, the Mother of CVS strangulation victim Anthony Kyser, area pastors and others to hold Tuesday Morning News Conference to ask for criminal charges against persons responsible for the man’s homicide

CHICAGO—In the wake of the recent strangulation death of a 35-year-old man by a CVS store manager, on Tuesday, May 18 at 9:30 AM, Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) will be joined by legendary civil rights attorney Attorney James D. Montgomery, Mrs. Ann Marie Kyser, mother of victim Anthony Kyser, at a news conference at Beloved Community Christian Church, 6430 S. Harvard. The lawmaker will re-issue his demand for the Chicago Police Department and Cook County States Attorney’s Office to file criminal charges against those responsible for killing the man accused of stealing toothpaste and crayons from a CVS store in the Little Village neighborhood. Ann Marie Balboa, the victim’s ex-wife, will also participate.

The lawmaker may also be joined by citizens who have come forward with other incidents of “shopping while black” at other CVS stores in Chicago and across the country. This will be the first time Ms. Kyser has spoken to the media regarding the horrific incident which she learned of while in church on Mother’s Day. Rep. Rush said police and prosecutors are strangely ignoring the loss of human life and “Anthony Kyser died at the hand of vigilantes,” who must be “held accountable for their acts that led to a man losing his life in an alley while a sworn officer of the law stood idly by,” he said. The man’s death was ruled a homicide by the Cook County Medical Examiner yet no criminal charges have been filed by authorities.

Incidentally, CVS Caremark was recently awarded a contract worth approximately $800 million to manage prescription-drug benefits for the city of Chicago and other local government agencies. The decision came despite a whistleblower lawsuit accused the corporation of bilking tens of millions of dollars from the state of Illinois from 2002 to 2005, when it managed the state’s pharmacy benefits.

A memorial service has been planned for Kyser on Friday.

RUSH/KYSER/CVS STORE NEWS CONFERENCE:

TUESDAY MAY 18, 2010; 9:30 AM

BELOVED COMMUNITY CHURCH, 6430 S. HARVARD, CHICAGO

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Black Journalists, Activists, and Others Call On City Council Black Caucus To Seek To Rescind CVS Contract With City

The original Letter was written by Mr. Glenn Reedus, Publisher of The South Suburban Newspaper and former Interim Executive Editor and Managing Editor of The Chicago Defender Newspaper with the request of Alderman Walter Burnett as Chair of The Chicago City Council Black Caucus and Black Council members to take the lead in The Chicago City Council to Rescind The $800 Million Dollar Contract With CVS Pharmacy., and today I am lending my voice as a veteran activist/journalist and to the public call on our City Council leaders to take a stand against CVS Pharmacy for it's role in the unnecessary death of an unemployed Black man, Anthony Kyser.

Mark S. Allen

Associate Editor, The South Street Journal Newspaper &

Founder of The Black Leadership Development Institute, BLDI

449 East 35th Street, 1st Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60616

312-624-8351 or cell 773-392-0165

May 17, 2010
Hon. Walter Burnett
City of Chicago
Chicago City Council
121 N. LaSalle St. Room 300
Chicago, IL 60602

May 17, 2010

Hon. Walter Burnett
City of Chicago
Chicago City Council
121 N. LaSalle Room 300
Chicago, IL 60602

Dear Alderman Burnett:

I trust like so many Chicagoans you were shocked at the news that an alleged shoplifter at a Chicago CVS drug store was strangled to death by a store employee. Many of us were even more shocked and especially appalled and saddened that despite the medical examiner's ruling of homicide, the Chicago Police Department refuses to charge the assailant for this offense.

Alderman Burnett, this incident sends a clarion signal that a Black man's life in Chicago is of little or no value - particularly if that man is ACCUSED of a crime. Even if we accept the story that Mr. Anthony Kyser did indeed steal toothpaste and crayons from CVS can you justify that those items were worth more than his life?

Sir, it is imperative that the Chicago City Council - particularly the Black Legislative Caucus step in and take compelling action to address the death of Mr. Kyser. What I and others strongly recommend is the City of Chicago rescinds the Caremark-CVS contract the company "won" to manage pharmacy services for several Chicago entities-including the City.

The City has already made a mockery of itself by awarding such a lucrative pact to a company that is under investigation for reportedly bilking the State of Illinois out of tens of millions of dollars.

While some of your colleague may not recognize the significance of giving voice to this horrific matter; residents of Chicago, should be able to look to the Black Legislative Caucus as an exalter of justice and fair play. It is painfully clear justice and the Chicago Police Department are absolute strangers, as a voter, a Chicago resident, and a Black man; I expect much more from elected officials who share the deceased's ethnicity.

Please help me understand, how in good conscience that the Legislative Black Caucus can 1) not speak with an authoritarian and sympathetic voice on the death of Anthony Kyser 2) award a contract to a company with such a questionable reputation when it comes to dealing with public sector clients.

Page 2

Walter Burnett


Mr. Burnett, you will be disappointed if you expect the balance of this letter to contain any demands, threats or innuendos.

So many of us fully understand and accept that in every man's life he must take a stand on an issue. Often, that stand can be an easy one, because it is popular. There are other times when the stand is wholly uncomfortable because it means standing for what is right, but not necessarily popular.

I implore to accept the discomfort of your leadership, and lead the way to telling Caremark-CVS that one of its own went too far in killing one of our own. Please rescind the $800 million contract and award it to the next lowest bidder-one without blood on its corporate hands.

Respectfully

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