NEW YORK – The controversy surrounding the death of 16-year-old Kimani Gray has sparked four days of protests in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Outraged and saddened members of the community attended a vigil Thursday night to honor the life of the young teen who was fatally shot by two undercover NYPD officers Saturday.
According to the police, Gray aimed a revolver at them which then lead the cops to open fire.
However, the family and community believe otherwise, saying that it was unlikely Gray would draw a weapon at the policemen.
“There’s the people story and then there’s the police story,” protester Jose LaSalle told theGrio. “The simple fact is that it’s a 16-year-old young man who died and people have had enough. They are angry and this happening to Kimani Gray has erupted their anger to a boiling point that they can’t contain anymore.”
As police and law enforcement lined the streets, protesters chanted “Justice for Kimani Gray” along Church Ave. in Brooklyn, following a press conference that was held earlier that day.
“So far all indications are that the young man had a gun,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the event where Gray’s mother spoke out for the first time asking others to “walk in my shoes and please understand my grief.”
It is a case that has exposed deep divisions between the police department and the city’s minority population.
“The issue is relevant because you have officers who consistently come into the community and assume by default that people fit a characteristic,” says Michael B., a local protester who asked for his last name to remain private. “You can’t prevent NYPD from hackling people.”
Michael echoed many of the same sentiments felt by protesters Thursday night. Yet, despite either claim, it is clear that the ongoing protests show that Gray’s death has only sparked the distrust of law enforcement in the African-American community.
“Kimani Gray’s death is one more example, of too many examples, of abusive tactics and the excessive use of force by the NYPD in low-income communities of color,” Rosa Squillacote, a policy advocate for the Police Reform Organizing Project, tells theGrio. “Members know and they fear that people and children in their communities might be the next target of NYPD quotas or NYPD brutality.”
Following over 40 arrests from protesters who demonstrated on Wednesday, Gray’s death has drawn media headlines and community activism from members who have decided to make their voices heard.
Despite the increasing protests, police say all proper protocols were followed.
According to the New York Times, John C. Cerar, former commander for firearms training at the Police Department, said: “Under the reported circumstances, it appears to be a good shooting,” agreeing with police commissioner Raymond W. Kelly who said there was “nothing to indicate that this shooting was outside the guidelines.”
Yet, the protests are ongoing and leading Thursday’s march was Kenny Carter, the president of F.A.I.T.H., Fathers Alive in the Hood — an organization that caters to the development of youth and addresses the issues of gang and gun violence in neighborhoods throughout New York.
“We came out for the simple fact that we’re not trying to see our youth get murdered,” Carter told theGrio. “A lot of times our kids are the victims and half the time they can’t even think for themselves, so they’re already misguided.”
The hour-long protest covered a span of 17 blocks as police stayed close, even plotting officers in several of the buses that rode down the avenue that night.
“Silence is consent,” said LaSalle. “It’s about us uniting against an injustice that if it’s not touched upon or talked about, will continue. This protest right now is showing that we’re not going to be silent, we’re not going to accept their lies and there will be justice.”
Follow Lilly Workneh @Lilly_Works