Brooklyn District attorney Ken Thompson to probe death of police shooting victim - Akai Gurley Independent Investigation Promised by Tony Best To the New York Police Department the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley in the dark stairwell of a public housing project in Brooklyn was an accident but Brooklyns District attorney, Ken Thompson, wants to find out for himself what really happened last month. As at least 150 mourners were getting ready for a funeral service at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church and to bury the victim hours later, the newly elected DA promised Gurleys relatives, civil rights activists and others interested in the spate of fatal shootings of young Black men in New York and the rest of the country by white police officers that his office would conduct a thorough and independent probe into what led to the fatal shooting of the 28 year old father by a rookie cop, Peter Liang. Thompson is expected to call Liang before a grand jury the DA plans to impanel to hear evidence. The cop claimed his gun went off accidentally while he was holding a flashlight in one hand in the pitch-dark stairwell of the Pink Houses project while carrying his upholstered gun in another on the night of November 20th. An unfortunate accident, was the way Police Commissioner Bill Bratton described the shooting which was on a list of several police killings of Black males in New York and other parts of the country this year. Hundreds of thousands of people in many of the nations major cities have taken to the streets to protest the killings, Gurleys among them, calling for justice for the victims families. Sylvia Palmer, the dead mans mother, has joined those calling for a probe of the shooting and an indictment of the police officer, saying, theres nothing in this world that can heal my pain and my heartache. I need justice for my son because my son didnt deserve to die like that. Kimberley Ballinger, the mother of Gurleys two year old daughter, added her voice to the calls for justice. We want justice. I want to see an indictment, said Ballinger. The Rev. Al Sharpton, leader of the National Action Network, a major civil rights organization with headquarters in Harlem has joined in the demands for an investigation, even after he dropped plans to attend the Saturday morning funeral service that was also attended by Public Advocate Letitia James, New York City Council member Inez Barron, and her husband, Charles Barron, the newly elected East New York State Assemblyman. Its very painful for the family, the Assemblyman-elect Barron told a City newspaper a few days ago. The Rev. Sharpton, who was originally scheduled to address mourners at the funeral service decided to bow out of the proceedings after his announced involvement triggered a split in the Gurley family. He had been invited to speak at Ballingers invitation but he withdrew after some relatives objected. I dont want to get in the middle of it, meaning a family dispute, said the Rev. Sharpton who has vowed to continue speaking for justice for the family The Rev. Dennis Dillon, a prominent church leader and publisher of the Christian Times newspaper described Gurleys death as a real tragedy.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:41:33 +0000
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