Kimani Gray, 16

Brooklyn, New York
March 09, 2013

Agencies: New York Police Department NYPD

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: over 5 years ago

Overview

He was slaughtered, and I want to know why.”

Carol Gray, the mother of 16-year-old Kimani Gray, tearfully addressed reporters last week following the shooting death of her son at the hands of two NYPD officers.  Kimani’s killing is not just a case of police brutality, it is yet another example of the ongoing human rights violations against mostly Black and Latino/a young people in New York and cities across the country. The NYPD officers who shot Gray—Sergeant Mourad Mourad and Officer Jovanile Cordova, two men of color—are perpetrators of this state violence. They have both been involved in a total of five separate cases for civil rights violations, including stop-and-frisks, that the city choose to settle out of court. Their actions have cost the city $215,000 to date.

Kimani was shot at 11 times. Seven bullets tore through his body, including three that hit him in his back. The police claim that they saw him adjusting his waistband, from which he retrieved a gun and then pointed at them.  This begs the question of just how he was shot in the back. Although Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, other members of the NYPD top brass and mainstream media outlets want to frame Kimani as a gun-toting member of the Bloods street organization, communities of color all too well know that smearing the victim tactic is an effective tool for desensitizing the public at large and detracting from the fact that a crime was committed by the police.