The family of the 18-year-old black boy gunned down last year by New York City police after they barged into his family’s home held a march and vigil over the weekend to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his death — an occasion the family also marked by filing a lawsuit against the NYPD.
Ramarley Graham’s family alleges in the suit that he was killed because the NYPD did not properly train its officers and because it disproportionately targets minority youth in its controversial stop-and-frisk program. The suit also accuses the NYPD of attempting to cover up the facts surrounding Ramarley’s death.
The lawsuit paints a vivid picture of an out-of-control police officer who even shoved Ramarley’s 58-year-old grandmother into a vase and threatened to shoot her in a profanity-laced tirade.
The suit names police officer Richard Haste, who killed Ramarley with a bullet to the chest, as well as Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and a number of other officers.
Haste was charged with first and second degree manslaughter — the first NYPD officer to face criminal charges for a fatal shooting since 2006. Haste, who has pleaded not guilty, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Dozens of neighbors, activists and friends gathered at 749 East 229th Street, the building where Ramarley was killed last year.
“It’s sad. It’s a real sad day. I shouldn’t be here doing this, but because of what happened, I am,” Ramarley’s father, Franclot Graham, said on Saturday in the Bronx during the vigil and the march to the 47th precinct, where Haste was stationed.
The father said the past year has done nothing to dull the family’s bitter pain over the incident.
“Last year, Feb. 2, it was our son,” Graham shouted over a megaphone at 47th precinct officers. “Next year, who’s next?”
“This fight is not just about wanting Richard Haste to go to prison. We want all the people that was involved booted from the NYPD,” Graham said, according to a story on dnainfo.com. “They are not fit to be cops.”
Graham was joined on the march by City Comptroller John Liu and Yusef Salaam, 38, one of the five men who were wrongly imprisoned in the Central Park jogger rape case 23 years ago.
By the time the march reached the precinct, its size had grown from dozens to hundreds.
“I’m here today because I’m a victim of the system, the criminal system of injustice, and I need to lend my powers to support justice in action for the Graham family,” Salaam said.
“It’s been a year since Ramarley Graham was gunned down in his own home and Frank and Connie and their family are still going through horrible and unbearable times,” the city comptroller said.
The 100-page lawsuit, which doesn’t specify a damage amount, alleges that Haste shot Ramarley in the chest in a bathroom as his horrified 6-year-old brother and 58-year-old grandmother, Patricia Hartley, looked on.
According to the suit, after Hartley cried out, “Why did you shoot him, why you killed him?” the officer turned to her and said, “Get the f–k away before I have to shoot you, too.” Then he shoved the 85-pound woman into a vase. Officers twisted her arm before taking her into custody for nearly seven hours. During the questioning, they accused her of covering up for her grandson and denied her access to her attorney for more than an hour and a half.
“They were calling her a ‘f–king liar,’ ” Jeffrey Emdin, an attorney for the family, said to the Guardian. Emdin said the grandmother was isolated to intimidate her. “It’s my assumption that they were trying to rattle Ms. Hartley into saying that her story couldn’t be true,” he said.
Once the grandmother was released, Hartley said she was “totally exhausted, totally traumatized” and sought treatment for trauma in a hospital.
The suit calls for an overhaul of training for street narcotics enforcement personnel. Haste was a member of such a unit but had not participated in the required training for the assignment, according to reports.
Though police initially claimed Ramarley had disobeyed orders to stop and ran into his home, surveillance footage later showed him calmly entering his building. The footage shows officers then rushing to the door and attempting to break it down.
Haste chased Graham into a second-floor bathroom, believing he was carrying a gun, according to the suit. A small bag of marijuana was found in the toilet near Graham’s body. No weapon was ever recovered.
Haste’s attorney, Stuart London, said Haste had no choice but to shoot Graham after he failed to show the officer his hands. London claims three members of Haste’s team have stated they saw a gun on Graham in the moments that led up to his killing.
Though the police commissioner has mandated that street narcotics officers should not make arrests for the possession of small amounts of cannabis in private, many city residents claim this practice has not been followed by officers.
“We want people to remember what happened to Ramarley and hope another family doesn’t feel the pain we’re feeling,” Constance Malcolm, Ramarley’s mother, told the crowd at the march. “It’s a pain I hope no other parent will have to go through.”
