Kimani Gray was shot seven times by two NYPD undercover cops — thrice in the back — on March 9th in Brooklyn. The officers who shot him, Mourad Mourad and Jovaniel Cordova, have a record of civil liberties violations.
For five consecutive nights last week protests against this police murder have been held in New York City. The Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition calls for a rally in solidarity with these ongoing protests and against police brutality — the same brutality which resulted in the death of Alan Blueford — here in Oakland.
Kimani’s mother spoke out a few days ago:
“Why was Kimani been murdered, and slaughtered? Why was Kimani begging for his life? Why was Kimani saying [those things] if he had a weapon? … He’s my angel, and my baby, and he was slaughtered, and I want to know why. After the first shot, why the second bullet, why the third bullet? … Just walk in my shoes, please, and understand my grief… I want justice, for his civil rights, for being an American citizen.”
As usual, the Police have published their lies about what happened, inventing witnesses who no one else seems able to find (much as they did in Alan’s case), and as usual, the media has simply reprinted the lies straight from NYPD’s mouth as if they are truth.
The JAB Coalition does not accept these lies, we do not accept the racial profiling and stop and frisk policies that led to the two police jumping out on Kimani, and we do not accept the continued slaughter of young men of color with the platitude that police were just doing their job. If the job of the police is to provoke a response and then kill a teenager, then we do not need them to keep doing that job. Far from keeping the community safer, the police only bring more violence and more loss of life, and the people have had enough.
Come join together in one voice on Thursday to tell the world that this must stop!
The Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition stands in solidarity with the family of Kimani Gray and the Brooklyn protesters who have endured assaults by NYPD for five nights running in their attempts to express their grief.
The murder of unarmed Kimani Gray – who begged the police not to kill him as they fired a hail of bullets – can’t help but remind us of the death of Alan Blueford who died telling his executioner “I didn’t do anything.”
The deaths of young men of color at the hands of the police have gone on far too long. It must stop, and stop now! One more death is 10,000 too many.
Rest in power Kimani Gray.
Call for rally by the Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition.
Facebook page for the Oakland rally.
‘We Want Justice for Kamani Gray’ Facebook Page.
We recognize the rage in the community as this killing closely resembles so many other killings by police in Oakland, including the murder of Alan Blueford, but out of respect for Kimani’s family, we ask that this event not be a place for window smashing. We know that it is the police who generally bring physical violence and need no provocation, but we ask that participants come not with the intent to provoke that response but rather with their own expressions of solidarity for Kimani’s friends and family as well as the dozens of people who have been arrested in Brooklyn for protesting his killing.