Justice for Ramarley Graham, victim of police brutality

Two demonstrations were held March 27 in New York City to protest the white New York Police Department cop who killed an unarmed Black teenager, Ramarley Graham, in front of his grandmother and brother on Feb. 2, 2012, in the bathroom of their Bronx home.

The cop, Richard Haste, decided to resign on March 26 rather than face being fired on March 27. What many in the movement are asking is: Why didn’t a grand jury indict Haste and his partner, Morris McCoughlin, for Graham’s murder? Haste chased Graham into his home without a warrant, claiming to be looking for “drugs” before fatally executing the 18-year-old.

Graham’s mother, Constance Malcolm, responded to this development, saying, “Mayor de Blasio has once again shown his unwillingness to hold police accountable to our communities with his administration giving deference to Richard Haste in allowing him to resign. This is not accountability after de Blasio and the NYPD dragged their feet for years, especially while all the other officers involved in the killing of my son continue to be employed by the department, enjoying pay raises every year.” (New York Daily News, March 26)

On the anniversary of Ramarley’s 24th birthday, April 12, his family filed a lawsuit against the NYPD for refusing to comply with the state’s Freedom of Information Law to release police files about his death. Malcolm stated, “With this lawsuit, we are demanding that the de Blasio administration and NYPD stop hiding the truth of what happened to my son and release the names and files related to the many officers who were responsible for misconduct. For over five years, it seems there has been a continued effort by the NYPD to cover up what really happened to my son and protect the officers involved from accountability.” (Amsterdam News, April 13)