Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Teen shot and killed by NYPD, was caught on camera


This is an ugly story that I can't even begin to explain myself. Hip Hop Wired reports on this story:

The shooting case of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham has taken a new turn after video was released showing NYPD officers kicking down the door of the home of Graham's grandmother in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. The video, which Hip-Hop Wired warns is intense, shows Graham entering his home calmly last Thursday with NYPD officers rushing the door behind and then proceeding to kick the door down.

Graham's family, who assert that the officers acted out of line in trying to apprehend the teen, released the footage, which was aired by local New York station WPIX. Reporters from the station visited the area and home of Graham, where neighbors say the police never once identified themselves and were threatening to residents. The landlord to the Graham residence, Paulette Minzie, said police shoved their weapons in her face and searched her home for weapons. The officers had no search warrant.

Since Thursday, NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly named 30-year old officer Richard Haste as the shooter in the case, saying that Haste shouted to Graham to show his hands and offer up a gun before shooting the teen in the chest inside a bathroom in the home. Kelly has placed Haste, a three-year veteran, and Sgt. Scott Morris, also present on the scene, on desk duty pending investigation.

Rev. Al Sharpton is helping to raise funds for Graham's funeral and also to help assist helping the teen's grandfather arrive to the States from Jamaica for the service. Sharpton spoke openly of the case over the weekend.

“Why would you break in a house and shoot a young man and kill him?" Rev. Al Sharpton said on Saturday. "You cannot get to a conclusion without starting with the premise. The premise is wrong. They had no business breaking in the house.”


 

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