Brooklyn Vigil for Unarmed Man Shot Dead by Rookie Police Officer

By Oliver Laughland, Guardian UK

22 November 14

Residents and community leaders demand justice from New York police commissioner and mayor

esidents and community leaders of the Pink Houses public housing complex in Brooklyn, where an unarmed man was shot dead by a rookie police officer on Thursday night, have expressed their anger at police and called for justice during a vigil on Friday night held just metres from the scene of the shooting.

Akai Gurley, 28, was shot once in the chest by police as he descended a darkened stairwell on the eighth floor of 2724 Linden Boulevard with his girlfriend, Melissa Butler.

Butler appeared at the vigil, beside a former New York City councillor, Charles Barron, but did not speak. She often gazed into the distance with tears in her eyes.

— Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) November 21, 2014

Akai Gurley's girlfriend has just come out of the block flanked by assemblyman Charles Barron pic.twitter.com/HO6YbPmq1M

The New York City police commissioner, Bill Bratton, described the incident as an “unfortunate tragedy”, describing Gurley as “totally innocent”.

Bratton said one officer, with less than 18 months’ experience on the job, appeared to have accidentally fired during a “vertical patrol” of the building.

“He [Gurley] just happened to be in the hallway. He was not engaged in any criminal activity,” Bratton told reporters at a press conference on Friday.

But the commissioner’s words did not satisfy people at Pink Houses where Barron led a chant of “Bratton must go!”

“Police commissioner Bratton is trying to set a climate to justify an unjustifiable shooting. He put rookie cops here. He allowed for his officers to break the regulation – they should not have had their weapons drawn for vertical patrols. They should have had it holstered [with] fingers off the trigger and they should have been asking questions. So we are saying to commissioner Bratton and to mayor [Bill] de Blasio, this one is on you,” Barron said.

“People have had enough. Don’t tell us to call for peace until you give us some justice. When you don’t allow peaceful means for justice, violent means is inevitable. And don’t blame me, the social forecaster, for predicting that just like you don’t blame the weather forecaster for predicting the storm – don’t blame me for predicting an explosion. We’ve had enough.”

— Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) November 21, 2014

Community members now stood in a circle holding a vigil just outside the block where Gurley was shot dead: pic.twitter.com/97RsvjH1ID

A number of vigil attendees drew comparisons between Gurley’s shooting and that of Michael Brown who was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri, by a white police officer in August. Brown’s shooting sparked a wave of unrest, which still continues, in Ferguson.

Tariq Cephus, 30, who has lived at Pink Houses all his life, told the Guardian he was shocked but “not surprised” to hear of Gurley’s shooting.

“You look at the coverage all over the country – every other day there’s an incident involving the police. Whether it’s shooting a guy in Walmart or Mike Brown for walking down the street – it’s happening all over the country,” Cephus said.

Richie Dunham, 48, another Pink Houses resident who has lived in the community all his life, expressed sympathy for Gurley’s family.

“That man had a family. They’re all coming from Florida. They’re not coming for turkey; they’re coming up here because their son is dead,” Dunham told the Guardian.

“It makes you feel angry. It makes you feel frustrated. I didn’t eat all day because of this.”

The vigil, held outside in the bitter below-zero cold, was attended by about 50 community members. The Guardian spoke to a representative from de Blasio’s office who had been sent down to observe. About a dozen New York police officers were also there.

Also there was Brooklyn resident Nicholas Heyward Sr, whose 13-year-old son, Nicholas Heyward Jr, was shot dead by police in the stairwell of a public housing block 20 years ago as he played with cops and robbers with a plastic gun.

Heyward said: “This isn’t a bad community. I know this community pretty well ... Why would [the officer] even be patrolling this building with his gun unholstered? When the same thing happened 20 years ago the officer was patrolling with his gun out. Why is that still happening today?

“It’s very painful for me to have to listen and hear all of this that just happened.”

Bratton told reporters that Butler’s family would be meeting with the district attorney next week.