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University Daily Kansan / Fridav. January 17, 1992
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Book probes police shooting
By Andy Taylor
Kansan staff writer
Author hopes more investigation in Sevier case will end racism
The controversial fatal shooting of a Lawrence American Indian last spring has captured the attention of an author in Hawaii.
Jerry Thomas, a retired college communications teacher living on the island of Hawaii, spent the past six months in Lawrence gathering information and testimony for a 500-page book titled "Hitchita: The Documented History of the Gregg Sevier Homicide."
He said the book would be released in Lawrence bookstores within the next two weeks.
Gregg Sevier, 22, was shot and killed in his home by two Lawrence police officers April 21. His parents, Willie and Orene Sevier, had called police to the home because they were worried ne might injure himself, according to police reports.
The book's title is the name of the Oklahoma village where Sevier, a Creek-Choctaw, is buried.
"Hitchita is a Creek Indian word meaning 'look at this,'" said Thomas, who spent several months in Okla.
"Hitchita is a Creek Indian word meaning 'look at this'. "
Portions of the book tell the history of the struggle of the tribes: Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw.
Thomas, who said he liked to write about social issues, became interested in documenting the story after a friend in Lawrence told him about the case.
"From what I read in newspaper clips, I understood that there was a very serious problem of racism in Lawrence," Thomas said yesterday
during a telephone interview from his home near the Mount Kiluae volcano. "And I thought that it was my duty as a human being to write a book about the case."
Thomas said he experienced the depth of frustrations felt on both sides of the controversy.
"I felt like a volcano, like erupting," he said.
A coroner's inquest, conducted a week after Sevier's death and called by former District Attorney Jim Flory, found the homicide unjustifiable.
Some American Indians in Lawrence denounced the finding and protested the treatment of American Indians by Lawrence police and city officials.
The complete transcripts of the coroner's inquest, a community forum on discrimination held in May and partial transcripts of several Lawrence City Commission meetings are in the book. They were transcribed from audio and video recordings made by the Sevier family.
Willie Seviar said the family gave Thomas permission to write the book.
"The gentleman approached us and asked if he could write about the
0 0 0 0 0
Gregg Sevier
death," he said. "I came as a surprise to us. But we gave him the OK."
Outsider viewpoint may provide insight
Thomas said he hoped an outsider's point of view would spur soul searching and individual responsibility in seeking solutions to racism in the community.
Kansan staff report
Willie Sevier believes that his son was a warrior.
"I keep thinking of what my father once told me," said Sevier, a Lawrence resident born in Hitchita, Okla.
"He said that warriors always go first," he said. "In my mind, I guess that is what my father was telling me about Gregg."
Sevier is the father of Gregg Sevier, who was killed last April by two Lawrence police officers.
"No, I don't hold any anger toward anyone," Sevier said. "My father told me that I should enjoy life and treat others as I would want them to treat me."
A book written by Jerry Thomas, Hitchita: The Documented History of the Gregg Sevier Homicide, should provide a detailed account of Sever's death plus insight into the plight of the
American Indians in Lawrence, Sevier said.
Sevier said that the town of his own birth also was the burial place for his son.
Thomas has tried to tell the complete story, he said.
"If a person is here for one year or 1,000 years, life goes by like a wink of an eye," he said.
would provide readers with the opportunity to learn more about the April 21 death.
Mark Gudenkauf, Gregg Sevier's brother-in-law, said he hoped the book
"People haven't taken an in-depth look at what actually happened." Gudenkaup said. "The readers should get a viewpoint from an outsider, not an outside agitator, though. Hopefully, it will bring out sensitivity on racism to overcome this problem. In my mind, the case has been swept under the rug."
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