ECAA is also very troubled by Cobb County District Attorney Patrick Head's decision not to offer the Assaminew family the courtesy of being notified of this verdictbefore it was leaked to the press.

Kirubel Assaminew, older brother of Surafel, was made privvy to the news after being contacted for comment by members of the press who were personally contacted by the District Attorney's office.

The decison of the grand jury, which came down sometime on Thursday, came a day after a very successful candlelight vigil organized by the Ethiopian community on Wednesday, December 10 in downtown Marietta.

The vigil was covered extensively by several local Atlanta media outlets including The Atlanta Journal Constitution, WAGA-Fox News 5, WGCL-CBS Channel 46, WSB-TV Channel 2 News, WRFG 89.3 and WALK's The Chris Askew Show.

"I was shocked to hear the news from a reporter," said Kirubel Assaminew. "And what's worse, we are again left with more questions than answers. Since the grand jury's proccedings are secret, we still don't know what happened exactly." Said family spokesperson Mr. Abebe Kebede: "Their mother was told of her son's death in a manner that was less than dignified. Now this. Something is terribly wrong."

The ECAA will launch a fact-finding mission that will intricately chronicle the circumstances that led to the death of Assaminew as well as research past cases of Cobb County police procedures into restraining citizens.

Assaminew, who suffered from Bipolar Disorder was killed by multiple shots to his upper body; one bullet went through his head, two through his heart and two through his side. In a speech at Wednesday’s candlelight vigil, Liz Degoursac, who works in the advocacy and education arm of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) stated, “The question is, why did such a man die pierced by so many bullets?”

ECAA will continue to work closely with the family and with civic organizations that have supported a full and open investigation into this matter.

Organizations that have written letters of support on behalf of Assaminew include:

• Amnesty International
• CARE
• Ethiopian-American Retail Association
• American Human Rights Coalition
• The Citizen’s League of Ethiopian-Americans,
• Coalition of Concerned Africans