2000: Malcolm Ferguson—Chased Down and Killed, on “Suspicion”

On March 1, 2000, 23-year-old Malcolm Ferguson was shot to death by a plainclothes cop just three blocks from where Amadou Diallo was killed a year earlier. Ferguson had been one of 15 people arrested a week before at a protest over the acquittal of the killers of Amadou Diallo. Malcolm’s mother, Juanita Young, believes that Officer Louis Rivera singled him out because of his participation in that protest.

What is known for sure is that Rivera, a drug cop, approached a group of young Black men hanging out and demanded that they “freeze.” Legitimately fearful of these murdering thugs, Malcolm ran into a building, which Rivera said was “suspicious.” Rivera chased him with his gun drawn, although Malcolm was unarmed. Rivera grabbed him, and claims that in the scuffle that ensued, his gun went off “accidentally.” But pathology reports showed that Rivera’s gun was very close to Malcolm’s temple when fired, and that the trigger pressure required is too great for an “accidental” firing.

No criminal charges were ever brought against Rivera and no disciplinary action taken.

In June 2007, a jury awarded Malcolm’s mother, Juanita Young, 10.5 million dollars in damages, holding that “the city and NYPD were 100% responsible for Ferguson's death.”

Juanita has been a leading activist in the fight against police murder since her son’s death. And, according to the Amsterdam News (writing in 2019), “Nearly every year for the past 19 years, the N.Y.P.D. and the Administration For Child Services have harassed the Ferguson/Young family...”

2006: Sean Bell—Murdered on His Wedding Day

November 25, 2006, was to be 23-year-old Sean Bell’s wedding day. In the early hours of that day, he and three friends were celebrating at a club in the Jamaica section of Queens. A tense scene developed there and they decided to leave. As they got in their car, Gescard Isnora, a plainclothes cop who had followed them out, approached their car, shouting at them.(6)

Panicked by what he thought was a robbery of some kind, Sean drove his car forward, possibly clipping Isnora, and then lurched backwards into anunmarked van full of plainclothes cops who were surveilling the club. Detective Isnora opened fire, as did the cops in the van—50 times! Bullets were everywhere, at least one penetrating a nearby train station, barely missing a passenger. Bell was shot in the neck, shoulder and right arm, and died in the hospital. Two other passengers (Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield) also suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were hospitalized—handcuffed to their beds, even though they were not charged with any crime. Guzman remained in the hospital until January 25, 2007.

Neither Bell nor any of his companions were armed, and other than panicking at Isnora’s approach, they did nothing wrong at all.

After the shooting the five cops were put on paid administrative leave.

On March 16, 2007, three of the cops were indicted by a grand jury for first and second degree manslaughter. They had a bench trial in front of NY Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman, who acquitted them on all charges in April 2008.

In March 2012 (six years after the killings) Detective Isnora was fired for his role. The head of the Detectives’ Endowment Association said this was “disgraceful, excessive and unprecedented.” Three other cops were also forced to retire; a fifth was cleared of all departmental charges.

2012: Ramarley Graham—Unarmed Teenager Murdered in His Own Bathroom. Mob of Pigs Then Cheers Their Fellow Swine When He Appears In Court.

On February 2, 2012, 18-year-old Ramarley Graham was murdered in the bathroom of his own home in the Bronx. Two NYPD narcotics cops had seen Graham on the street and believed he was in possession of marijuana. They chased him home. Ramarley ran inside; the cops kicked down his door and ran up the steps. Detective Richard Haste broke down the bathroom door and fatally shot Ramarley in the chest with a 9 mm handgun. Ramarley’s grandmother and his 6-year-old brother were in the house at the time. His grandmother was taken into custody, held for five hours, and interrogated without an attorney.

Cops tried to claim Ramarley had a gun, but there was none. They found a small packet of weed in the bathroom that they believed Ramarley was trying to flush down the toilet—for that they stole his life.

Haste was initially placed on “modified duty.” Four months later, in June of 2012, a grand jury indicted him on manslaughter charges. After posting bail at his arraignment, Haste was escorted by about a dozen other cops to his car, where around 50 plainclothes cops “applauded and cheered for Haste as he got into the van.”

On May 15, 2013, Bronx County Supreme Court Justice Barrett vacated Haste's manslaughter indictment, stating that the district attorney had given the grand jury flawed instructions. Ramarley’s mom, Constance Malcolm, cried out “They killed my child” and was promptly hauled out of the room by court officers and taken to a hospital; she was released several hours later.

Evidence was presented to a new grand jury, but on August 8, 2013, it too refused to indict Haste.

On March 8, 2016, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of NY announced that it would not file federal charges closed their investigation of Ramarley’s murder.

2014: Eric Garner—“I Can’t Breathe”—Murdered for Selling Loose Cigarettes

On July 17, 2014, cops targeted 43-year-old Eric Garner on a street corner in Staten Island. Garner—a former Parks Department worker who retired for health problems—had been repeatedly harassed, brutalized and arrested for trying to sustain his family by selling loose cigarettes on the street. On this day Garner held his open hands out wide to show he was no threat, and said “It stops now.”

But even that much defiance towards NYPD can be a capital offense. NYPD cop Daniel Pantaleo put Garner in a chokehold and five other cops brought him face down onto the ground. Garner called out “I can’t breathe” eleven times. Then he lay handcuffed, motionless, and unresponsive for seven minutes, receiving no CPR or other aid from the numerous cops there. Even when an ambulance arrived, the EMTs only took his pulse. Garner was pronounced dead in the hospital an hour later.

The incident was filmed by Ramsey Orta and went viral.(7)

All that happened to the cops is that Officers Pantaleo and Justin D’Amico were placed on desk duty.

On December 3, 2014, a Richmond County (Staten Island) grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo or any of the other cops.

The same day,(8) DOJ announced it would conduct its own investigation, but nothing came of that—in July 2016 the U.S. Attorney General announced there would be no federal charges.

On August 19, 2019, then-Police Commissioner James O’Neill terminated Pantaleo from the NYPD. Pantaleo’s attorney Stuart London announced that his client would sue in state court for reinstatement.

A Short Note on the “New” “Majority-Minority” NYPD

From revcom.us|
The NYPD and news media are making a big deal about how the composition of the NYPD has changed since the old days when it was mostly white. In fact, they claim themajority of cops are now Black, Latino or Asian.

So what! Of the five cops who fired 50 shots at Sean Bell and his friends, three—including the detective who opened fire—were Black. When Malcolm Ferguson was killed, NYPD spokespeople argued that it had to be a “legit” killing because the cop who shot him was Latino. And the NYPD officer who killed Akai Gurley in the stairwell of a Brooklyn Housing project in November 2014 was Asian.

And guess what? Of the three cops who assisted Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, one was Asian and one was Black. In fact, the Black cop (J. Alexander Kueng), according to his mother, became a cop in order “to bridge that gap in the community, change the narrative between the officers and the black community.”

NO. As BA concisely and accurately points out, “The role of the police is not to serve and protect the people…” The way that police act, including their racist brutality, flows from their actual role under system, which is to oppress, control and terrorize the people, especially the most oppressed. Whatever intentions and illusions anyone has, including some who may join the force to “improve relations” with the community, that’s not how it works. You might as well try and eliminate gambling, prostitution and drug dealing and promote peace on earth and goodwill to men by joining the Mafia. In the real world, YOU will be changed to fit the needs of the institution, the institution is not going to change to satisfy your self-delusions. And your “diversity” will just be another weapon for these thugs to get over among the oppressed and fool those with more privilege.