#PoliceBrutality NYPD Continues Their Tradition: By Shooting & Killing Unarmed Black Men

OPINION-Once again, an NYPD officer shot and killed an unarmed black man – but this time in his own home. A police officer made a transmission over the radio that Ramarley Graham was observed with what appear to be the butt of a gun in his waist band. Police Commissioner Kelly later announced that this was a mistake by that officer who initially submitted that transmission. I think that was an attempt to use that as an excuse to execute a stop and frisk. The officers told Graham to stop, he ran and enter his home instead.  The police went though the back of the home, climb some stairs and broke down the 2nd floor apartment door and entered. Now, I’m unsure at this time if police can break down your door and enter without a warrant if you did not see a crime actually being committed. That part of the law is still sketchy, so I’m a go with the notion that now they violated his 4th amendment rights. The police enter the bathroom, someone yelled gun and a shot was fired killing Graham.

The police performed a search of the building and did not come up with a gun. This young man is now dead, all because he had a bag of weed, which he was allegedly trying to get rid of in the bathroom. Yes, you read correctly WEED, not a gun, but a bag of weed. Graham was only 18 years old and now his parents have to bury their child, because once again - we have a case of trigger happy police.

To add insult to injury after they killed this young man, they question his grandmother who was at the home at the time - for several hours without the presence of an attorney.

The police officer that killed Graham had to turn in his gun and is now on modified desk duty, as well as his sergeant. Now the grand jury is investigating the incident and a possibility of an indictment looms. Do not get too excited one knows that this is just posturing. When was the last time a police officer served jail time for shooting an unarmed black man? [crickets] I rest my case, this will be no exception to the rule.

All kinds of wrong have been demonstrated in this case. Is this the knee jerk reaction of the police since one of their own was shot in the head and killed in December of last year? Just recently, another police officer was shot in the head, but lived by the hands of another young man. Not every Black and Latino man are out there trying to kill the police. If you start policing as if you’re scared then this is the results you will get. Maybe if the police lived in the community they are policing, then some of these incidents will not take place as often. A lot of these police officers live in Long Island and have never grew up or understand the city. They are placed in the hood so to speak and their response to possible conflict is the use of their guns.

As for the parents of this young man, your children should never be comfortable bringing drugs into your home. I wish I would attempt to bring drugs into my mother’s house when I was growing up. I feared her more than anyone in this world. By the looks of things, he did not fear his parents. And I'm sure he has done this plenty of times before.  Stop allowing your children to bring drugs into your home, and I will take it a step further and remove all the doors because there is no such thing as privacy. You want a door to your room, move out and get your own apartment. That is the old southern way on how I was raised, in other words their was no such thing as privacy if you lived under your momma's roof.

If you are a Black or Latino man in New York City one will always be a consistent target of the NYPD. Their stop and frisk policy is just modern day racial profiling. After they stop you they always come up with the same lingo “you fit the description”. In other words, you are the wrong shade. The community needs to know their rights and what police are allowed and not allowed to do. This also goes with car searches, as well. The Black and Latino community need to have seminars to teach the youth about their civil rights. Enough is enough already. We just started the new year, and the NYPD is keeping up with their tradition by continuing to shoot and kill unarmed minority men. Educate your own children, because if you don't, they could be next.

-Ms Scripter

Just blogging for the masses, ya dig?

Ms Scripter is the founder of For-The-Masses and is from Brooklyn, NY. She is currently employed as a facilities security manager at a college in NYC. You can find more of her posts at www.For-The-Masses.com

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