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Hundreds gathered in a Bronx church Saturday to mourn the death of an unarmed teen shot and killed by police inside his home this month.
The body of Ramarley Graham, 18, lay in an open casket as more than 400 relatives and friends began to fill Crawford Memorial United Methodist Church in Williamsbridge for the teen’s funeral. Franclot Graham kissed the forehead of his teenage son, dressed in a white suit, before the service began at 10 a.m.
“There is no reason for all of us to pretend, even in our sorrows, that we are here under a natural act,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton. “This is an unnatural and inexcusable occasion.”
Ramarley Graham was chased into his parents’ Williamsbridge apartment on Feb. 2 by officers from the NYPD’s street narcotics enforcement unit after the cops spotted what appeared to be a gun. After bursting into the apartment, Officer Richard Haste confronted the teen in the bathroom and fired the fatal shot as his grandmother and 6-year-old brother stood nearby.
Clergy members from around the city gathered Monday to denounce what they’re calling the senseless murder of Ramarley Graham.
A New York City Police Department narcotics officer shot and killed the 18-year-old inside his 229th Street home earlier this month. Sources tell NY1 that the officer’s name is Richard Haste.
Reverend Al Sharpton said the NYPD should release information about all of the officers involved.
“We don’t even know the background of the police. Have they had complaints before? Do they have a pattern of this? This code of silence must be broken,” said Sharpton. The teenager’s father joined the ministers who gathered in front of the district attorney’s office. The group is demanding that the officer be charged with murder.
“It starts from Robert Johnson, the district attorney here of Bronx county, setting the example, investigating this matter and prosecuting those who are responsible,” said Royce Russell, the Graham family’s attorney.
Police patrolling White Plains Road say they thought Graham had a gun on February 2. When he ran off, they chased him into his house. He was shot in his bathroom.
http://www.ny1.com/content/155894/sharpton-calls-for-accountability-in-fatal-shooting-of-bronx-teen
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is ordering a top-to-bottom review of procedures for street-level narcotics officers in the wake of the shooting of an unarmed Bronx teen.
Police sources have identified the officer who fatally shot Ramarley Graham as Richard Haste, and the sergeant who was with him as Scott Morris. They say Haste was not properly trained in narcotics enforcement or plainclothes police work.
Hundreds turned out Wednesday for a meeting of the 47th Precinct Community Council. The Bronx Borough Commander said the shooting was not racially motivated, but angry community members say they’re being discriminated against.
A week after police shot to death an unarmed 18-year-old in his grandmother’s Bronx apartment, questions continue to swirl around the aggressive police tactics that led to the fatal confrontation.
Ramarley Graham died last Thursday after Richard Haste, 30, a New York police officer, entered his grandmother’s apartment and shot Graham in the chest while he attempted to flush a bag of marijuana down the toilet. Graham was unarmed and police did not have a warrant to enter the home.
Graham’s death has sparked street protests in Wakefield, a low-income neighborhood with a large African-American and Caribbean immigrant population.
Jeffrey Emdin, an attorney representing Graham’s mother, called the police tactics unlawful. “They illegally entered the home,” Emdin said. “They had no right to be inside. They had no right to use force.”
Protesters linked the shooting to the NYPD’s aggressive street policing program, called “stop-and-frisk,” which predominantly targets low-income minority neighborhoods. In 2011, the program stopped and searched more than 500,000 New Yorkers, 85 percent of them black or Latino. The searches contributed to a record number of misdemeanor marijuana arrests last year.
The NYPD did not respond to several requests for comment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/ramarley-graham-new-york-police-_n_1266715.html
An angry crowd protesting police treatment of minorities gathered Monday outside of the Bronx residence where an unarmed teen was fatally shot by cops last week. Ramarley Graham, 18, was killed by narcotics detectives who followed him as he fled into his parents’ Williamsbridge apartment. He was in the bathroom when he was shot once in the upper portion of his chest.
About 500 demonstrators attended the rally and called for an end to police brutality. “We are human beings. Stop treating us like animals,” Frank Graham, the slain teen’s father, told the crowd. “My son did nothing wrong. I want justice for my son, my baby.” Juanita Young, 57, the mother of Malcolm Ferguson, a 23-year-old who was killed during a struggle with a narcotics officer in 2000, joined in the rally to show solidarity with Graham’s parents.
After gathering outside of the E. 229th St. apartment building where the Grahams live, the boisterous crowd marched to the local 47th Precinct stationhouse while chanting: “NYPD, KKK, how many kids did you kill today?”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/500-protest-shooting-ramarley-graham-article-1.1018297
The police department announced Friday that a narcotics officer and his sergeant have been stripped of their guns and put on desk duty amid an investigation of the officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed drug suspect within a few feet of the suspect’s grandmother inside the family home.
The measures came after the New York Police Department backed away from an initial account saying that the officer had struggled with 18-year-old Ramarley Graham at the door of a bathroom. Police said a bag of marijuana was found in the toilet, suggesting Graham was trying to flush it away before the gunfire erupted.
A grand jury was expected to investigate the shooting to determine if the officers should face criminal charges, said police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who expressed sympathy for the family.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/04/nypd-puts-cop-who-shot-an_n_1254322.html
A short chase in the Wakefield section of the Bronx Thursday ended with police officers fatally shooting an 18-year-old man who was reportedly unarmed at the time, and authorities have not disclosed what sparked the incident.
Officials say Ramarley Graham fled from police as officers approached on White Plains Road at around 3 p.m. He entered his home, where officials say a struggle took place. According to officials, police fired one shot and hit Graham in the torso. He was taken to Montefiore Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. released a statement saying that the man was unarmed when police shot at him. However, police officials said that while officers had not recovered a weapon from the scene, they were still searching for one.
Those who love Graham were outraged.
Graham’s father was in shock, saying “I don’t know what’s going on yet.” His mother was at work and rushed home when the landlord called her. She said police wouldn’t tell her anything.
“My 6-year-old son was there, saw everything,” said Constance Malcom, Graham’s mother. She added that Graham was “like a regular kid. Not a kid that carry guns around, sling no guns. He’s not that type of kid.” She said her son may have had marijuana on him and Graham’s brother said police have come into their home uninvited before. They say regardless, no one deserves this.
http://www.ny1.com/content/155337/narcotics-officers-fatally-shoot-man-inside-bronx-home