The 1990 police killing that tarnished a town's reputation as progressive was dubbed "Model America."

 Teaneck, New Jersey, which was one of the first cities in the rest of the country.

. to knowingly and willingly end racial segregation its school systems, was for years hailed as a liberal, "racial utopia." 

. The police killing of a Black teen titled “ Phillip Pannell there in 1990 catapulted the town into national spotlights. 

A resident called Teaneck Police on the evening of April 10 to report seeing a teenager.

with such a weapon among other children in a school playground. 

Pannell was the adolescent.  Gary Spath, a white police officer, eventually fatally shot the 16-year-old by shooting him in the back. 

– Finally, a white-only jury found Spath not guilty of the murder in 1992.  An incendiary device is based on the narrative.

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