National Lawyers Guild – New York City Chapter (NLG-NYC) condemns police killing of sixteen-year old Kimani Gray; repression of protesters
For Immediate Release
March 19, 2013 – New York – The National Lawyers Guild – New York City Chapter (NLG-NYC) condemns the NYPD’s killing of sixteen-year old Kimani Gray on March 9, 2013 in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Mr. Gray was killed by seven bullets fired by two NYPD officers, both of whom have been sued repeatedly in the past for civil rights violations. The Chapter expresses our heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr. Gray at this time of tragic loss and continues to strive for the day when the children of New York City are protected from police killings and violence.
The killing of Mr. Gray is symptomatic of a police department that engages in routine and daily acts of violence and brutality against communities of color in New York City. The NYPD’s systemic racism includes its unconstitutional stop-and-frisk program, which is responsible for the arbitrary detention and frisking of hundreds of thousands of innocent people annually; its surveillance, targeting, and harassment of Muslims, South Asians, and Arabs under the direction of its Demographics Unit; and its long history of excessive and deadly force against people of color. The NLG-NYC supports the call for the immediate suspension of the two officers who shot and killed Mr. Gray, as well as the call for the appointment of an independent special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute both officers.
The NLG-NYC also condemns the police violence that has been unleashed this past week against demonstrators in East Flatbush. Police have utilized excessive force and engaged in unlawful arrests of community residents and of members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the Justice Committee who were conducting Cop Watch, the legal practice of observing and documenting police activity. The NLG-NYC demands that all charges against arrestees be dismissed and we call on the NYPD to respect the rights of political protestors in East Flatbush and throughout New York City.
The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
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