On Oct. 1, the New York City Congress for Puerto Rican Rights hosted a Town Hall in Sunset Park regarding Police Conduct and Accountability. Sunset Park has been at the center of the police brutality struggle in the last couple of weeks. On Sept. 17, in an unprovoked attack, a cop kicked and beat 22-year-old street vendor Jonathan Daza.
The following week, on Sept. 23, cops slammed a pregnant woman, Sandra Amezquita, to the ground. Dennis Flores, organizer and founder of “El Grito de Sunset Park,” the community cop watch group that recorded both instances of police brutality, opened the town hall by explaining the importance of community organizing. Flores stated, “We are showing power right now, as a people, this is power!”
New York City Police Chief Philip Banks introduced the cops and he apologized on behalf of Commissioner Bratton. He claimed, “When Commissioner Bratton became aware of those videos that were shown [earlier in the evening] he was very concerned. … He did not like what he saw, he was very clear, and I believe that the overwhelming majority of the police officers, they do it right, and they do it right every single time. …” The crowd immediately responded with boos.
The apologetic tone of the police chief demonstrates the fear they have of the expanding movement against police brutality. We know that this is fabricated sympathy in order to make the community trust “a few good cops.” In Ferguson, when the police chief apologized for Darren Wilson murdering Michael Brown, the family and community remained unmoved. Taking action, like indicting Darren Wilson, would actually mean something.
As in Ferguson, the people of Sunset Park know better. This is why every subsequent speaker demanded that Commissioner Bratton be fired as he continues to allow cops to harass, attack and murder innocent Black and Brown people with impunity.
Iris Baez, mother of Anthony Baez, a young man who was murdered in 1994 after NYPD choked him to death, explained her fight with the NYPD. “My son died because he did not [release Anthony from an illegal chokehold]. So many police officers committed perjury and the judge knew. … That was 1994, and we are still having the same problems, perjury, corruption. … They need to fix the whole department, from the top to the bottom, Bratton has got to go!”
Baez’s story echoes the frustration towards Bratton’s inaction at suspending or charging the violent aggressors in the NYPD. Police brutality activist and mother of a victim of the NYPD, Juanita Young, asked the Sunset Park community: “Why do the cops think they are above the law? What do we need to do? Get rid of Bratton!”
Margarita Rosario, mother of Anthony Rosario and aunt of Hilton Vega, both of whom were murdered by the NYPD, followed Baez. She retold the murder of her son: “My son received 14 shots in the back while he was face down on the floor. My nephew received eight shots in the back, also face down on the floor. Who is the criminal? My son or the detective that shot them?”
Rosario continued agitating the crowd in Spanish. “Yo sigo peleando y sigo hablando porque la injusticia sigue, yo veo las noticias y veo la injusticia que estan hacienda con los latinos … quisiera que pasara lo que esta pasando en Ferguson!” [“I keep on fighting, keep on speaking because the injustice continues, I see the news and I see the injustice against Latinos. … I wish that what is happening in Ferguson would happen here!”]
After this, the crowd burst into applause demonstrating that the community stands with the struggle against police brutality and will no longer accept the empty rhetoric of the NYPD.
