BY ROSE ADAMS, BEN VERDE
& MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
Demonstrations continued
consume Brooklyn this week
as thousands of protesters took
to the streets in support of the
Black Lives Matter movement
and to decry the recent police
killings of black people across
the country.
On June 5, protesters came
together in Downtown Brooklyn
to remember Breonna Taylor,
the young black woman
fatally shot by Louisville police
offi cers in early March,
on what would have been her
27th birthday.
The Friday afternoon
crowd sang “Happy Birthday”
to Taylor — an EMT who was
shot eight times by Louisville
cops who wrongly believed
there were illegal drugs in her
apartment.
Just one day earlier, demonstrators
and mourners alike
gathered in Sunset Park to demand
answers after the death
of of Jamel Floyd, who died at
the Metropolitan Detention
Center on June 3 after corrections
COURIER L 4 IFE, JUNE 12-18, 2020
offi cers pepper sprayed
him in the face.
Donna Mays, Floyd’s
mother, said she’d last spoken to
her son just days earlier, when
he had talked optimistically
about his upcoming release in
four months — but, Mays said,
she could’ve never expected
it would be the last time she
heard from him.
“He was okay, he was in
good spirits,” said Mays. “They
murdered him.”
An investigation into
Floyd’s death is underway, and
the city’s Chief Medical Examiner,
Dr. Barbara Sampson,
said her offi cer was gathering
the facts, and will announce
Floyd’s cause of death after a
“thorough, independent investigation
fi rmly rooted in science
and medicine.”
On June 8, current and former
members of the de Blasio
administration and various
city agencies marched from
City Hall to Brooklyn’s Cadman
Plaza opposition to Mayor
Bill de Blasio’s handling of the
ongoing demonstrations.
Hundreds of the staffers
also rallied together to call on
Hizzoner to make good on campaign
promises to reform the
city’s policing policies.
“I felt grateful to work for
an administration that shared
my values,” said former de Blasio
staffer Catherine Almonte.
“I believed that you de Blasio
we’re going to make meaningful
change from the inside…
that’s what’s made this week so
painful.”
The demonstrations come
amid criticism of city leaders
for what many believe has been
an overly-aggressive response
from the NYPD in response
to the protests — particularly
a spate of incidents caught on
video, when offi cers drove patrol
cars into crowds, violently
shoved demonstrators, and pepper
sprayed seemingly-nonviolent
protesters.
Thousands of demonstrators fl ooded the streets this week to support
the Black Lives Matter movement. Photo by Paul Frangipane
On top of those instances,
thousands of demonstrators
had been arrested during the
fi rst week of June, while Mayor
Bill de Blasio’s controversial 8
pm curfew was still in effect.
The NYPD has changed
their strategy since the curfew
was lifted, and have not arrested
a single protester since
June 7, according to the NYPD.
The week also marked a
cause for activists’ celebration,
as the New York State legislature
voted to repeal 50-a, the
state law that often keeps police
disciplinary records a secret.
In New York, reformers
honed in on the 1970s-era law
as a major example of inadequate
oversight over law enforcement,
and fl ooded the inboxes
and voicemails of the
state’s elected representatives
demanding that the legislature
repeal the law.
“I think it can’t be understated
how much of a collective
movement win this is today,”
said Carolyn Martinez-Class a
spokesperson for Communities
United for Police Reform.
Protests continue
throughout Brooklyn
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