BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 46 UNE 18-24, 2021 BTR
Kawaski Trawick
Photo via Slaters Funeral Home
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Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc
Health Commissioner
BY BRONX TIMES
The Civilian Complaint
Review Board (CCRB) voted
Wednesday to substantiate misconduct
charges against NYPD
Officers Brendan Thompson and
Herbert Davis, who killed Kawaski
Trawick on April 14, 2019.
The charges pertain to Officer
Thompson’s and Davis’
abuse of authority, use of force
and other misconduct in their
killing of Trawick. Thompson
and Davis killed Trawick in
just 112 seconds after arriving
at his apartment. Now that the
CCRB has voted to substantiate
charges against Thompson and
Davis, the family is calling on the
CCRB to swiftly file the charges
with the NYPD, and the NYPD to
immediately serve the charges
on the officers and schedule the
administrative trial.
Trawick was alone in his
home when the cops broke the
chain off his door, tased him
and shot him multiple times,
killing him. Last month, it was
made public that the NYPD’s
internal investigation found no
wrongdoing and had imposed
no discipline on Thompson and
Davis.
Trawick’s parents, Ellen
and Ricky, Loyda Colon, executive
director of the Justice
Committee, Ileana Mendez-Peñate,
Communities United for
Police Reform spokesperson
and Royce Russell, the Trawick
Family’s attorney responded to
the CCRB’s vote to substantiate
charges against the officers.
“We’re glad the CCRB was
able to see there was wrongdoing
on the part of NYPD officers
Brendan Thompson and
Herbert Davis for murdering
our son, Kawaski Trawick, but
we’re shocked that these officers
are still on the force,” said
Ellen and Rickly Trawick said.
“We’ve watched the video of Kawaski’s
killing over and over
again and it’s clear that Thompson
and Davis created a crisis
that didn’t exist, escalated at every
step and then killed our son
in cold-blood – and they did this
in 112 seconds.
After shooting Kawaski,
Thompson and Davis made
no attempt to save his life –
they left him behind a closed
door while they worried about
themselves. Kawaski was
killed while he was cooking
in his own apartment – where
he would have been safe if it
weren’t for Officers Thompson
and Davis. Our son should
be alive and Brendan Thompson
and Herbert Davis must be
fired. We’re demanding that the
CCRB move swiftly to file the
formal charges with the NYPD
and that Mayor de Blasio and
the NYPD waste no time serving
the charges on Thompson
and Davis so the discipline trial
can move forward.”
More Information on Kawaski
Trawick:
On April 14, 2019, Trawick,
32, was locked out of his apartment
at Hill House in the
Bronx. The fire department let
him into his apartment. By the
time NYPD officers Brendan
Thompson and Herbert Davis
arrived, Trawick was already
back in his apartment cooking.
Trawick asked the officers
multiple times “Why are you in
my home?” and explained, “I’m
cooking.” The officers repeatedly
escalated the incident including
Davis using his baton
to break the chain on Trawick’s
door to enter the apartment,
both Davis and Thompson refusing
to answer him when he
repeatedly asked “Why are you
in my home?”. Both officers
shouted orders at Trawick, refused
to answer his questions,
and Thompson tased him without
cause, and then shot and
killed him within 112 seconds
of their arrival. The NYPD
sensationalized the fact that
he was holding a bread knife
to justify shooting him, but he
was holding a knife because he
was cooking. Only one officer,
Brendan Thompson, had his
body-worn camera.
The NYPD refused to release
full, unedited footage
of the incident for almost two
years – only releasing unedited
footage to a legal organization,
following a FOIL request. In
December 2020, the NYPD-released
a selectively-edited and
incomplete video of some of the
body camera footage. In footage
that the NYPD later released to
the legal organization, officers
on the scene immediately after
Trawick’s killing can be heard
saying, “Nobody, just a perp”
in response to an officer asking
if anyone was injured. It is
also clear that Thompson and
Davis did not immediately provide
care to Trawick after he
was shot.
In April, it was made public
through a ProPublica report
that the NYPD found “no
wrongdoing” on the part of
Thompson and Davis. Trawick’s
family found out about
the NYPD’s refusal to discipline
Thompson and Davis
through the news media.
Seeking justice
Family of Kawaski Trawick responds to CCRB decision to substantiate charges against NYPD Officers
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