Provocative Cops Ignite Brooklyn: Autopsy Shows Plainclothes NYPD Shot Black Teen 3 Times in the Back

Dead Wrong. A third night of protest Wednesday night, after which, the police said, someone hit an officer in the face with a brick, another brick was thrown through the window of a police van, and there were 46 arrests — mostly for disorderly conduct. Two officers suffered minor injuries. 

From [HERE] and [HERE] An autopsy on the 16-year-old Black boy killed by New York City police this week found he was hit by seven bullets, including three in the back side of his body, authorities said Wednesday. The Saturday night shooting of Kimani Gray in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood has heightened tensions between police and residents, leading to violent protests and a dispute between Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and City Councilman Jumanne Williams, who represents the area.

Kelly, said Tuesday that the police had interviewed three witnesses, “two of which say that the officers said, ‘Don’t move.’ ” “Another witness said an officer says, ‘Freeze,’ ” he said. The officers then fired 11 shots, the police said.

There are no witnesses who saw Gray with a gun. When asked if there are any witnesses in the case who ‘specifically say they don’t see a gun,’ Commissioner Kelly said, ‘No.’ [MORE]

The only civilian eyewitness to come forward said that the youth did not have a gun in his hand. Tishana King claims to have watched the entire scene unfold from her window. She told the Daily News she is "certain [Gray] didn't have anything in his hands" when he was shot.

King says Gray was backing up when the officers began shooting. "Kimani started backing up," she said. "The cop took out his gun and started firing at Kimani."

"His [Gray's] hands were down," she said. "I couldn't believe he let off [fired] his gun. There was no reason. No false move." [MORE]

But a police spokesman said the witness told detectives she couldn’t see the incident clearly “from the angle I was at.” 

Video from last night posted by AnarchoQueer, who said the NYPD has declared a portion of Flatbush a “Frozen Zone”, meaning media are not allowed in and people can be subjected to arrest for not following police orders. It basically means the area is under temporary martial law. [MORE]

A woman who lives across the street from the shooting scene said that after the shots were fired, she saw two men, whom she believed to be plainclothes officers, standing over Mr. Gray, who was prone on the sidewalk, clutching his stomach.

“He said, ‘Please don’t let me die,’ ” said the woman, 46, who gave her name only as Vanessa. One of the officers, she said, replied: “Stay down, or we’ll shoot you again.” [MORE]

Police in an unmarked patrol car say they came across a group of young Black men and saw Gray acting suspiciously, walking away from his friends when he saw the officers approach.

A young Black man being forced to protect & serve NYPD overseers (officers) last night. 

A witness said the boy was merely afraid and running for his life. On camera Camille Johnson said: "He was running for his life, telling the cops stop. [MORE] 

Seven bullets hit Mr. Gray, including three that entered his body from the rear, according to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The autopsy did not establish the order in which the bullets struck Mr. Gray, or determine the path of the bullets, which might make clearer if Mr. Gray had his back to the officers when he was shot, or if he had twisted away after being struck from the front.

The police have not questioned the officers involved since the shooting occured. “When asked how many witnesses saw Gray with a gun or pointing a gun, Commissioner Kelly first said that, ‘We are not speaking to the shooting officers because of an agreement that we have with the district attorney.’ The commissioner explained that speaking to the officers could give them immunity; ‘So we don’t have direct information from the officers themselves.’” [Villiage Voice, 3/13/13]

burning & looting does not solve problems Racist white people are the most provocative people on the planet, do not react to their conduct or statements by doing anything that could lead to "greater confinement." [MORE] Victims of white supremacy must once & for all be conscious that anti-racism is not counter-racism. Anti-racism is a blind reaction to stress, anger and fear caused by racism. Activities such as singing, clapping hands, complaining & attacking cops do not solve the problems posed by white supremacy. [theCODE] 

But the findings, inconclusive though they were, appeared likely to heighten the tensions of a community already distrustful of the police and increasingly incensed about the shooting of the teenager.

Police said the shooting unfolded after Gray was behaving suspiciously and fiddling with his waistband, suggesting to the officers that he was concealing a weapon.

By the time an autopsy of the 16-year-old was released Wednesday, the tension in East Flatbush could be measured in the silently flashing lights of squad cars parked at tight intervals along Church Avenue.

On Wednesday night, about 200 people attended the vigil. The gathering became unruly when about half of them splintered off and marched to a nearby police precinct station house. After officers in riot gear set up a roadblock on Church Avenue, Mr. Gray’s sister Mahnefah tried to cross the street and was put into a police car. She was given a summons and released. Some of the protesters shouted, “That’s the sister,” then started throwing bottles when the police would not release her. Someone hurled a chair. Screams could be heard as skirmishes broke out on side streets.

For local residents, many of whom voiced skepticism about the official account, the situation surrounding Mr. Gray’s death was grimly familiar. Less than a year before, and only blocks away, a narcotics detective shot and killed an unarmed 23-year-old woman, Shantel Davis, as she tried to flee the police in a car that had been reported stolen at gunpoint, the police said at the time.

Vigils followed that shooting as well. But soon the rhythms of daily life returned, marked by what young men and women said was a daily backbeat of police stops.

Protesters enraged over the fatal shooting of a teenager by police poured into Brooklyn streets for a third straight night Wednesday, pitching bricks, bottles and garbage in furious clashes with cops.

At least 46 demonstrators were arrested along Church Ave. in East Flatbush. Police struggled to control a hostile crowd that broke away from a planned peaceful vigil for Kimani (Kiki) Gray, 16, killed by police on Saturday night.

Gray’s sister Mahnefeh was among those arrested. A police officer suffered a gash in the face when a tossed brick hit him, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, and a window was smashed in an inspector’s car.

“They didn’t have to kill him,” Makaeo Williams, 18, said as police on motorcycles tracked alongside him. “I’m feeling mad inside. I’m angry. That’s why I’m out here.”