Nearly four dozen people were arrested as scores of demonstrators gathered in Brooklyn for a third consecutive day to protest the NYPD department following the police-involved shooting of a 16-year-old boy over the weekend, authorities said.
Protesters attended a candlelight vigil Wednesday night for Kimani “Kiki” Gray just blocks from where he was shot to death by police Saturday night.
The anger was palpable as a group of young people heckled police officers in helmets and later marched down a street.
The vigil’s organizers tried and failed to calm the young people, some of whom later threw bottles at police officers. One officer’s face was hit with a brick; he was treated for a laceration and released from Suny Downstate Hospital, police confirmed.
Forty-six people were arrested on disorderly conduct charges during Wednesday evening’s protest, including Gray’s sister, police told NBC 4 New York. Police said additional and varying charges are pending for many of those arrested. Specific charges against Gray’s sister were not immediatgely clear.
A spokesman for Gray’s parents said they would not speak publicly as long as there was violence, which he said has “clouded their message.”
“It’s a tough time for the community,” said the spokesman, Rev. Gilford Monrose. “But the family and myself do not condone the violence.”
The latest protest came after the medical examiner’s office ruled that Gray was hit seven times, and had wounds in both the front and back of his body, including his shoulder, rib cage, forearm and legs.
The teen was with a group Saturday night, but left when he saw police in an unmarked car, police said. Authorities said he was acting suspicious and plain clothes officers approached him. According to police, Gray pointed a .38-caliber revolver at them, and they opened fire. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
A gun was recovered at the scene.
Gray was black. The officers involved in the shooting were black and Hispanic. They have been placed on administrative duty.
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