CCRB: Offi cer Who Killed Trawick Should Be Fired
Out queer Black man was inside his apartment when he was killed
BY MATT TRACY
The Civilian Complaint
Review Board (CCRB)
on June 9 recommended
that the NYPD fi re
the police offi cer who fatally shot
out queer Black man Kawaski Trawick
in 2019 and bring accountability
to both offi cers involved in
the case.
The developments from the
CCRB, which is an oversight agency
of the NYPD, are emerging more
than two years after offi cers Brendan
Thompson and Herbert Davis
entered Trawick’s apartment unit
without his permission, leading to
a deadly shooting on an evening
when he was likely enduring distress.
Trawick’s family and others
— including Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams — have repeatedly
expressed frustration in response
to the lack of accountability in the
case. It was revealed this past April
that the cops faced no disciplinary
action.
“The CCRB substantiated multiple
allegations of abuse of authority
and use of force against
police offi cers Herbert Davis and
Brendan Thompson for killing Kawaski
Trawick, and recommended
charges be served against each offi
cer for their role in this tragedy,”
Ethan Teicher, the CCRB’s senior
communications advisor, told Gay
City News. “The CCRB is committed
to following the NYPD’s new
disciplinary matrix, administratively
prosecuting these offi cers,
and holding them accountable for
their actions.”
Fred Davie, the chair of the
CCRB, said in a tweet that the offi
cers’ actions were “unreasonable”
and “unjustifi ed.”
“The offi cer who shot and killed
Trawick should be fi red,” Davie
wrote. “We at the CCRB will do
everything within our power to
make sure that happens.”
While the CCRB did not elaborate
further, the New York Post reported
that the CCRB concluded
that Thompson did not properly
use his taser or his gun. Both
Thompson and Davis are facing
Kawaski Trawick was fatally shot by a police offi cer in his apartment in 2019.
internal misconduct charges because
they did not properly enter
Trawick’s home and failed to immediately
seek medical assistance,
according to the New York Post.
When asked to respond to the
CCRB, the NYPD told Gay City
News that the department “will review
the CCRB’s fi ndings.”
Trawick resided in the Bronx at
Hill House, a supportive living environment
located at 1616 Grand
Avenue. Call records from dispatchers
on the night of Trawick’s
death revealed a turbulent evening
during which Trawick called 911,
saying there was a fi re and he was
locked out, and the superintendent
of his building and a security
guard called police.
When the pair of offi cers arrived
to his apartment, Trawick
held a serrated knife and said he
was cooking. He questioned the
cops about why they entered his
apartment, but instead of answering
him, the offi cers directed him
to put down his knife. Thompson
FACEBOOK/KAWASKI TRAWICK
subsequently tased Trawick and
dropped the taser, but when Trawick
recovered from the effects of
the taser, Thompson fatally shot
him.
In the aftermath of the shooting,
offi cers were caught on camera describing
Trawick as “just a perp.”
Bronx District Attorney Darcel
Clark announced last August that
she would not be charging the offi
cers. Clark said at the time that
she wanted to see “a thoughtful
review of police procedures and
training techniques,” but said “we
do not fi nd that the facts warrant a
criminal prosecution.”
In response to the CCRB’s latest
announcement, Trawick’s family
reiterated their demands for
prompt action to be taken against
the offi cers involved in the case.
“We’re glad the CCRB was able
to see there was wrongdoing on
the part of NYPD offi cers Brendan
Thompson and Herbert Davis for
murdering our son, Kawaski Trawick,
but we’re shocked that these
POLICE
offi cers are still on the force,” Trawick’s
parents, Ellen and Ricky
Trawick, said in a written statement.
“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.”
They added, “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 offi cers Thompson and
Davis. Our son should be alive and
Brendan Thompson and Herbert
Davis must be fi red. We’re demanding
that the CCRB move swiftly to
fi le 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.”
Williams, who was one of the
fi rst people to view the body camera
footage before it was released, told
Gay City News in 2019 that police
offi cers need to be better prepared
for such situations, saying that “it
was quite clear that they had every
opportunity to come out of that
house and instead they stayed in.”
Williams welcomed the CCRB’s
announcement and stressed that
police offi cers should not have
been the ones responding to the
case at all.
“After the NYPD claimed that
there had been no wrongdoing
by the offi cer who killed Kawaski
Trawick, denying what New Yorkers
could plainly see on video, I
am glad that the CCRB saw past
that and substantiated charges
against both offi cers for their roles
in his death,” William said in a
written statement on June 10. “I
hope that these charges lead to
swift action that this administration
has failed to bring again and
again in cases of offi cer misconduct.”
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