BY AL DUNCAN
ELMONT, New York - On December 30, shortly after 3 a.m., Anthony Raymond of the Nassau County police shot Christopher Wade to death. Wade, a Black man in his 20s, was killed as he was returning from the store. The killing has provoked outrage in this Long Island city and the surrounding New York area.
Several hundred people took part in a march and rally here January 6 demanding justice for Wade. Demonstrators marched from the spot of the killing to the Nassau County 5th District police station. Raymond worked out of this location.
Protesters called on Governor George Pataki to appoint an independent prosecutor to look into the shooting, and for Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate killings of this type by the police of Black and minority youth. They also demanded that Raymond be suspended from the police while the investigation into this murder is taking place.
The cops' version of the killing is that Raymond observed Wade acting "suspiciously," supposedly talking to someone in a stopped car in a known drug area.
After exchanging a few words, the cop got out of his cruiser and pushed Wade against a picket fence to frisk him. While trying to call for help, the police claim that Raymond noticed that Wade's left hand was holding a gun under his arm pointed at the officer's chest.
The cop shot Wade repeatedly, and the young man fell to the ground. As Wade was lying on the ground, Raymond reloaded his weapon and shot him twice more, firing a total of 16 times.
"The guy was down, he had a gun in his hand, he was still moving, and I'm scared," Raymond later told cops investigating the shooting. A spokeswoman for the County Medical Examiner's office said Wade had been shot nine times suffering wounds to "the brain, heart, lung, aorta, liver, and kidney."
The only known witness to part of the shooting is Rev. Eugene Kennedy, who was at home at the time. Kennedy witnessed the shooting of Wade as he was lying on the ground.
The pastor stated that he did not see a gun in Wade's hand or in the area surrounding him. Moreover, people in the neighborhood explained to this reporter that Wade was not the type of person who would be carrying a gun.
"I knew Chris nearly all my life," said 25-year-old Vernon Steward, who also lives in Elmont. "Chris was the type of person that got along with just about everybody in the neighborhood."
Residents' opinion of Raymond was the exact opposite.
According to Stephen James, the family's lawyer, Raymond was known for enforcing his own "personal curfew."
"He had run-ins with working people, men, women, and children," James said. "The only thing they had in common was they were all Black people."
Contributions to help with legal costs can be sent to the Christopher Wade Legal Fund, c/o Attorney Stephen James, 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 206, Rosedale, NY 11422.