Akai Gurley

Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: The Day’s Climate: NYPD & Protests For Justice

I took the following photos during the day on weekends during this winter’s street protests in the city following both the grand jury’s in Ferguson, MO and NYC failing to indict officers in the killings of unarmed black males Michael Brown Jr. and Eric Garner.

The biggest difference between the two cases being one of the killings was actually captured on video in its ENTIRETY. There can be no justification or excuse as to why after seeing that video his killer is not charged but allowed to continue receiving a paycheck and go about his daily life.

We don’t condone the recent killings of two NYPD officers murdered in cold blood in their patrol car over the weekend. However, this is what was alluded to in previous posts. Now that killings of NYPD have happened people want to have “real serious dialogue” about race relations, the police, their interactions and policing of minority communities as well as Accountability.It’s important to note that with regards to Michael Brown Jr. he gets lumped in as a “man” even though he was only 18 yrs old because of his size, & ethnicity. Legally Michael Brown Jr. would be considered an adult at 18, but for all intents and purposes most reasonable people acknowledge that being 18 doesn’t make one a “man”. He was a kid. He was not perfect and he did make mistakes in his life as we all have.

The question is, does that mean he deserved to be gunned down in the streets like a wild animal and then be blamed for his death? With regards to 12 yr old Tamir Rice, there is no justification for gunning down a 12 yr old playing with a toy gun in 2 seconds. Can we recall a year hotter than 2014 for the police with the continued rampant reports of their killing of unarmed black males and youth?

Akai Gurley is yet another recent example. This man was shot dead in a stairwell by a police officer who then waited six minutes to call not an ambulance but his union rep while Akai lay dying. Tensions are boiling over and little is being done to quell the emotions of those who are unstable or unwilling to wait for the wheels of justice to turn in their direction especially when justice seems not to turn in their direction at all. Whether we like to admit it or not there has been a war waging for a long time against the disadvantaged and/or the poor. Addressing the symptoms or consequences of inequality, prejudice as well as injustice, instead of the source of these issues is part of the problem. The question is where does NYC and the nation at large go from here?