Vol. 77/No. 31      August 26, 2013

BY SETH GALINSKY  
NEW YORK — The parents of Ramarley Graham are calling for federal civil rights charges against the Officer Richard Haste, who killed the unarmed 18-year-old Black youth in the bathroom of Graham’s home in the Bronx after a grand jury refused to hand down an indictment Aug. 7.

“My son was not running, he had no gun, but the grand jury said let this man walk. This is sending the wrong message,” Ramarley’s mother Constance Malcolm told the Militant at an Aug. 10 protest against the grand jury’s decision. “They are saying that they don’t see Blacks and Latinos as humans.”

“We will review all the available evidence … to determine whether there were any violations of the federal criminal civil rights laws,” said U.S. Justice Department’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson Jerika Richardson in a statement issued after the decision.

“The Justice Department says they’re looking into it,” Malcolm said. “But I no longer have any faith in this system. I won’t believe them until they bring charges.”

Haste was indicted on first- and second-degree manslaughter charges four months after the Feb. 2, 2012, shooting. But State Supreme Court Judge Steven Barrett dismissed the charges in May this year, ruling that prosecutors had made an error when they instructed the grand jury not to take into account police reports that say other cops watching Graham told Haste that Graham’s behavior indicated he was armed.

Under pressure from dozens of protests organized by Malcolm and Ramarley’s father Frank Graham, the Bronx district attorney convened a second grand jury.

Cops claim they saw Ramarley Graham “acting suspicious” and followed him home after they saw him “fidgeting” with his waistband. A video shows the teenager entering the house and closing the door behind him. Seconds later cops try to enter. Finding the door locked, they unsuccessfully attempt to kick it open. The cops swarm around the house, enter through the back door and head upstairs.

Police reports say Haste thought Graham was reaching for a gun. They also say cops retrieved marijuana Graham was apparently attempting to flush down the toilet. His grandmother, who witnessed the killing, was immediately detained by the cops and held at the nearby precinct for seven hours.

About 100 people, including many neighborhood residents, joined the Aug. 10 rally, which began at the home in the Bronx where Graham was killed.

“You’re telling me that if the prosecutor wanted an indictment he couldn’t get it?” Chadley Hughes, 45, a freelance carpenter who lives nearby, told the Militant. “They like to say they can indict a ham sandwich even if it’s baloney.”

“I’ve been protesting since day one,” added Terry Johnson, 38. “I don’t like the cops getting away with murder.”

“I’m not much older than Ramarley,” said Kye Smith, 20, a UPS worker who was attending his first protest. “It could’ve been me.”

“Maybe white youth get harassed,” said Smith, who is Black. “But at the end of the day we’re the main targets.”

Graham is one of 21 people killed by New York City cops last year. Not a single city police officer has stood trial in a criminal court since 2008 when the cops who killed Sean Bell in a hail of 50 bullets were acquitted.

Among the speakers at the rally were Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson, who was killed by New York City cops in 2000; Crystal Davis, sister of Shantel Davis, killed by the cops in 2012; Dashawn Williams from the National Action Network; Democratic Party mayoral candidate John Liu; Sha’Allah Shabazz from the Nation of Islam; and Mike Greys from 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement and Freedom Party candidate for mayor.

After the rally participants marched to the 47th Police Precinct.

Malcolm encouraged participants to go to Washington, D.C., Aug. 24 for the 50th anniversary of the massive civil rights March on Washington on a bus sponsored by Ramarley’s Call, set up to back the fight to indict the cops. For more information visit www.ramarleyscall.net.
 
 
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