Expect Racism in Grand Jury of NYPD Officers who Killed Polanco: Unarmed Latino Army Reservist Never Given a Chance to Comply

From [HERE] and [HERE] A grand jury will begin hearing evidence next week in the fatal police shooting of an unarmed National Guardsman who was pulled over on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens last October.

Starting on Tuesday, a 23-member panel in Queens will be asked to determine if Det. Hassan Hamdy, a veteran Emergency Services Unit cop, should face a criminal charge after he fired through the window of Noel Polanco’s car, killing him.

Hamdy is expected to testify during the month-long presentation of evidence that Polanco, who police said was driving drunk that fateful night, suddenly reached down toward the floor, prompting Hamdy to fear Polanco was reaching for a gun and forcing the detective to fire a single fatal.

A grand jury  would likely pit Det. Hamdy's word against that of Ms. Deferrari, as their versions of events clash sharply and the incident wasn't witnessed directly by anyone else (a curious statement from the WSJ- other cops were present but they refuse to snitch, as there were two police vans carrying a "group of other officers." Killer cop Hamdy drove one of the vans and the witness said an "army of officers" swarmed the car". In fact the other passenger in Polanco's car was an off-duty NYPD officer Vanessa Rodriguez, who claims she slept through the entire thing. [MORE] White media supporting the actions of white police= white supremacy).

Police said the fatal encounter was preceded by Mr. Polanco driving erratically in a Honda Fit along the eastbound lanes of the Grand Central Parkway at about 5 a.m., twice cutting off two unmarked police vehicles carrying Det. Hamdy and a group of other officers. Mr. Polanco didn't comply with orders, delivered over the police vehicle's loud speakers, to pull over, forcing the officers to pen his vehicle in. 

Once the car was stopped, Hamdy approached the Honda from the passenger side, where he shot Polanco through the open passenger-side window. Hamdy’s lawyer, Philip Karasyk, said that Hamdy believed Polanco was reaching for a gun. But a witness, Diane Deferrari, who was seated in the passenger’s seat, rebutted that account, saying the oficer fired without giving Mr. Polanco a chance to comply with his orders to put his hands up and that his hands were still on the steering wheel when he pulled the trigger."Had I moved an inch, it would probably have been me.'' [MORE]  No weapon was found in the car. A small power-drill was found under Mr. Polanco's seat, police said.

Diane Deferrari, said in a phone interview last Thursday night that just before pulling the car over, officers appeared irate that Mr. Polanco had cut them off. She said that some of the officers — but not Detective Hamdy — stuck up their middle fingers and were screaming obscenities from one of the moving police trucks. [MORE]  

“As soon as we stopped — they were rushing the car,” Ms. Deferrari said. “It was like an army.”

She said a group of officers swarmed the car, yelling for the three people in Mr. Polanco’s car to put their hands up. Mr. Polanco, whose hands were still on the steering wheel, had no time to comply, Ms. Deferrari said. At that instant, a shot rang out, and Mr. Polanco gasped for air, she said. [MORE] 

Ms. Deferrari didn't dispute the police account that Mr. Polanco cut off the police vehicles. Police have not indicated whether any other drivers or pedestrians were affected by Polanco's driving. Nor whether he had any drugs or alcohol in his body. 

After the shooting, she says one of the officers told her "your friend shot himself." Polanco's hands, she says, were on the steering wheel at all times. [MORE] 

Polanco, whose National Guard unit was based in Kingston, N.Y., was posthumously promoted to sergeant at his funeral.  His death touched off protests against police tactics.