Attorney: Antwon Rose’s family will press for criminal charges
Civil action against officer also weighed
An attorney representing the family of slain teenager Antwon Rose II said he will contact county, state and federal officials and press for criminal charges against East Pittsburgh police Officer Michael Rosfeld after the Monday funeral for Antwon.
Authorities say the officer shot three times at the 17-year-old Rankin teen on Tuesday, killing him as he fled from a car during a traffic stop.
Lee Merritt, an attorney for the family, said Sunday that the family also will discuss civil litigation as well as civil rights violations in the aftermath of Antwon’s death.
Mr. Merritt made his remarks after leaving visitation for Antwon at Tunie Funeral Home in Homestead, where hundreds of family, friends and even strangers paid last respects between 4 and 8 p.m., with vehicles lining both sides of the street for blocks during those hours.
Some wore shirts in protest against East Pittsburgh Police with others donning black shirts with metallic gold lettering stating, “Justice for Antwon Rose. Three shots to the back. How can you justify that?”
Antwon, a student at Woodland
Hills High School, was fatally shot after he ran from a vehicle that officials say matched the description of a vehicle involved minutes earlier in a shooting in North Braddock.
Mr. Merritt said the family will pressure law enforcement to file criminal charges against the officer. “The family hopes [Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala] will conduct a fair and thorough investigation leading to criminal charges, but they feel there will be a bias with the DA’s office, and the investigation will be better handled by state or federal law officials.”
No criminal charges have been filed against Officer Rosfeld, 30, who was hired by East Pittsburgh in midMay but sworn in just hours before the shooting. He previously worked as a police officer at the University of Pittsburgh but left after authorities discovered discrepancies between the officer’s sworn statement and evidence in an arrest.
Antwon’s funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Woodland Hills Intermediate School on Evans Street in Swissvale.
People outside the funeral home said no protests were scheduled Sunday or Monday in respect for the family. But protests are expected to resume Tuesday, they said.
Those leaving the funeral home said it was calm inside but with an undercurrent of outrage and anger and plenty of hugs and tears.
People milling on the street until a 7:15 p.m. rain dispersed the crowd were calm throughout the day but with clenched-teeth messages for anyone willing to listen.
“Obviously, this is pretty horrible overall not only for the family but the city,” said Malik Thomas, 19, of Homewood, who said he’s a member of the Army National Guard. “As far as the police are concerned, they need to retrain everyone — everyone.”
When Mr. Thomas’ own family sought help from police to solve a neighborhood problem, he said they were ignored.
“They don’t seem to care,” he said. “That is not how it should be.”
“This is not a vibe that should be placed on our community,” he said. “Everything these days is based on emotion and bias — not the morals of human beings.”
Joshua Walls, 32, of Edgewood-Swissvale said he doesn’t cry often, indicating he might have shed tears over Antwon’s death. He did declare a “feeling of disgust.”
“It shouldn’t be that easy to take a life,” he said, describing the police shooting as “Jim Crow type of stuff” and calling for more African-American police officers and better police training. “My heart is racing. I wouldn’t think this could happen.
“Police are the sharp end of the sword” in racism and bias occurring nationwide, he said, later adding, “This is only the tip of the iceberg.”
The most dramatic moment occurred about 6:40 p.m., when 15 members of Pittsburgh Gentlemen, a national motorcycle club with a Pittsburgh chapter — and the majority riding black and chrome Harley-Davidson motorcycles — rode in a line, with throttles blaring before parking in a long line in front of the funeral home.
They greeted people, then walked in line into the funeral home, later emerging to get on their motorcycles and performing a piercing “throttle salute” to Antwon before riding away.
A 44-year-old club member from the Hill District, asking that his name not be published, said the salute for Antwon was the same they perform “any time someone from the biker community is lost.”
Antwon, he said, was a nephew of one of the club members. The club is planning to participate in more protests over the shooting.
“People are becoming wiser about the system of mass incarceration [ of African-American men] and murder by law enforcement. It is part of the larger narrative,” he said. “Change comes through the DA’s office.”
Calling for more people to vote, the man said the Pittsburgh Gentlemen motorcycle club is calling for citizens to “look at the mayor, city council and the county executive.”
“We need to know where you stand,” he said. “Do you stand for justice or continuation of open murder by law enforcement?”
Then there was Matt Geyer, 30, who worked with Antwon in a Forest Hills pizza shop. He said he had talked with Antwon three hours before his death to encourage him to work in a Monroeville pizza shop that Mr. Geyer’s girlfriend Tammy Overly manages.
Through tears, Mr. Geyer gave reasons why. He said Antwon never got mad, helped other employees and was a friend with everyone he worked with. He never missed a day of work.
“And I never heard him raise his voice,” Mr. Geyer said, providing a remembrance.
“The first thing that comes to mind is that Tammy and I have been together for eight or nine years and one day we were arguing all day. I was giving Antwon a ride home from work.
“Antwon told me to calm down: ‘ You guys have been together forever and that’s what means the most,’ he said.
“He turned a tense situation around with just a few words to lighten the mood,” he said.
When it comes to his death, Mr. Geyer said, “The first question is why he ran from the car?”
“That should be the last question they ask,” he said. “We know why from the poem he wrote. He was confused and afraid.”