POLICE
Cops Won’t Face Discipline in Kawaski Trawick Case
NYPD insists there was no wrongdoing in death of queer Black man
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
The 2019 police killing of out queer
Black man Kawaski Trawick resulted
in no disciplinary action against the
offi cers involved in the incident, the
NYPD told ProPublica, prompting the victim’s
family to reassert demands for accountability.
“There was no discipline as no wrongdoing
was found,” said an NYPD spokesperson who
noted that the case underwent an internal review.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark announced
last August that the offi cers would not
be facing charges, saying, “we do not fi nd that
the facts warrant a criminal prosecution.”
Two years ago, Trawick, 32, was tased and
fatally shot at home after NYPD offi cers Brendan
Thompson and Herbert Davis entered Hill
House apartment in the Bronx at a time when
he may have been experiencing distress. The
police were called that evening by the superintendent
of Trawick’s building and a security
guard who said Trawick was annoying neighbors.
Trawick also called 911 and claimed there
was a fi re.
After offi cers entered his home, Trawick,
who was holding a serrated knife and a stick
while he was cooking, repeatedly asked them
why they were in his home. The offi cers never
answered his question and instead asked him
to put away his knife. Trawick walked away to
turn off a radio before turning to the offi cers
and again asking why they were standing in his
home. Offi cer Thompson tased Trawick, knocking
him down — and then, for whatever reason,
Thompson dropped his taser. As Trawick recovered,
Thompson shot at him multiple times,
with one bullet fatally striking him.
Following the shooting, authorities asked if
anyone was injured, and an offi cer called Trawick
“just a perp,” according to body camera
footage.
Now, Trawick’s family and activists are urging
for the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a
civilian-led group investigating police misconduct,
to begin a disciplinary trial that would
fi re Offi cers Thompson and Davis from their
current positions.
Ellen Trawick, the victim’s mother, blasted
the NYPD for not holding the offi cers accountable
for her son’s death.
“To fi nd out from press that the NYPD is basically
claiming the offi cers did nothing wrong
when they murdered my son is painful and
disrespectful,” Trawick’s mother said in a written
statement provided by Communities United
for Police Reform, an advocacy group working
to eradicate discriminatory policing. “My son
should be alive today, and Mayor de Blasio and
The offi cers involved in the shooting death of Kawaski Trawick will not face any disciplinary action.
the NYPD should be ashamed of themselves for
their refusal to fi re Thompson and Davis and
for making me learn this news from press instead
of from them.”
She added, “Since it seems like the NYPD
rigged their so-called review to protect the offi -
cers instead of New Yorkers, I am calling on the
Civilian Complaint Review Board to substantiate
charges against Offi cers Brendan Thompson
and Herbert Davis so that they can be fi red
and can no longer pose a threat to other New
Yorkers.”
Ileana Méndez-Peñate, a spokesperson for
Communities United for Police Reform, said
evidence shows that offi cers escalated the situation.
“We’re disgusted but not surprised that the
NYPD’s internal investigation found no wrongdoing
on the part of police who killed Kawaski
Trawick, a Black queer man, in his own home,”
Méndez-Peñate said in a written statement.
“This is another example of Mayor de Blasio
and the NYPD trying to gaslight New Yorkers
by falsely claiming our eyes are lying. NYPD
Offi cers Brendan Thompson & Herbert Davis
escalated at every step.”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
denounced the lack of disciplinary action.
“Kawaski Trawick deserved justice and accountability
FACEBOOK/KAWASKI TRAWICK
— he deserved to live,” Williams
said in a written statement. “And our systems
robbed him of all three. I understand the complexities
of the situation, the need to make
quick decisions in emergency situations. But I
don’t know how you can look at this case, look
at this video, and conclude that no one did anything
wrong.”
In a 2019 interview with Gay City News, Williams
said “it was quite clear that the offi cers
had every opportunity to come out of that house
and instead they stayed in.”
“There was a knife in his kitchen — I don’t
know where else you would have a knife than
in a kitchen,” Williams said. “The police just
opened the door. Think about how you would
feel if somebody opened the door.”
Williams stressed that the case represented
a failure on the city’s part to properly respond
to mental health issues.
“To say that there was no wrongdoing, in this
case, is to blatantly ignore both systemic and
individual failures, and invite them to perpetuate,”
he said.
The news comes as a jury announced that
Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on all
charges in the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a
Black man who died with his neck pinned under
the knee of a white police offi cer.
April 22 - May 5,12 2021 | GayCityNews.com
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