PROTESTORS ANGRY OVER GRAND JURY DECISION
Demonstration in front of Troy Police Department Wednesday
TROY, N.Y. » A grand jury’s recent decision not to indict a city police officer over the nonfatal shooting of a black man last year drew protestors to the front of the Troy Police Department on Wednesday.
“No justice, no peace. Indict the cop who shot Dahmeek.”
“Police impunity, bad for our community.”
“When black lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.”
These were some of the calls from the approximately 40 protestors, angry over Monday’s announcement by Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney that a grand jury decided not to indict Troy Police Officer Jarrod Iler over the Aug. 15, 2017 non-fatal shooting of Dahmeek McDonald.
Protestors said that Troy Police - and police all over America - treat black people unfairly, kill and harass them for no reason and rarely, if ever, are held accountable for it. Those in front of the Troy Police Department on Wednesday were angry that Iler remains employed by the department. They also called upon Mayor Patrick Madden to create a citizen review board, saying prosecutors, regardless of what county they hail from, are biased in favor of police.
Further legal action
Speaking to the crowd through a bullhorn, Albany attorney Mark Mishler, who represents McDonald, said while it was a beautiful day, the gathering was for a sad occasion, that being, “... one more example of how justice is not done in this country...we knew going into this that the deck was stacked against justice for Dahmeek… but we still had hope that somehow the right thing would happen, that the police officer who
used deadly force against Dahmeek McDonald last August would be held criminally accountable for his actions.”
He said young, black men in America are nine times more likely to be killed by police than any other demographic. “We also know, from lots of experience, that when someone is killed the chances of the police officer being held accountable through the legal system are close to zero, it almost never happens,” Mishler said.
While McDonald wasn’t killed, Mishler said deadly force was still involved.
“We’re going to move forward, we do have some legal options,” he said. “We’re not letting this go. We have a young man who was unarmed, did not pose a threat, certainly did not create a risk of harm to anybody else, and yet was subject to the use of deadly physical force.”
At least four shots were fired at McDonald, two of which hit him, said Mishler.
About grand juries
Mishler said that getting a grand jury to indict someone is fairly easy, if prosecutors want it to happen.
“But when a police officer
is the target of the investigation, the playbook changes, and instead of showing what is necessary in order to get an indictment, they take the strategy, ‘we’re going to present the grand jury, which is just 23 regular citizens, with every single piece of evidence. Every witness we can find, every single thing and let the grand jury sort through it.’ That’s a recipe for no indictment.”
Amy Burock, major crimes bureau chief for the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office, took issue with Mishler’s comments.
She said under usual circumstances, after a person has been charged by police with a felony, prosecutors have only six days to take the matter before a grand jury. Prosecutors can present some evidence and witnesses in preliminary hearings, but these are held in open court which raises concerns about witness cooperation and use of court resources. This is why typical grand jury hearings move forward faster, and without as much evidence as they otherwise might have.
In the Iler matter, prosecutors had more time to collect evidence and witnesses. She said it would have been unfair to present only what was needed to get Iler indicted.
Calls for change
“I guess that me and my people are held to a higher standard than anybody on this planet, according to the laws imposed on us, the laws that imprison us, enslave us...they don’t protect us. We have no protection under these laws in America for some reason,” said Messiah Cooper, McDonald’s uncle and a primary leader of the Justice for Dahmeek group. “The truth is rising across this nation. Nothing will hold me down. Not liars, not murderers, not thieves, not someone imposing their will on my people, nothing will hold the truth down, we will rise.
He called for the creation of a citizen review board, one with legal “teeth,” independent from police influence.
“We need to hold our elected officials accountable,” he said. “Now, if they’re not going to be held accountable, then we have to keep them out of our community, they do more harm than good.”
Jamaica Miles, lead organizer at Citizen Action of New York, said it was the Schenectady County District Attorney who decided Iler would not be prosecuted. “Every day the Schenectady DA decided that black and brown bodies will end up in jails and prisons, but police officers are exempt, that the crimes they commit are not crimes against people, but are service to their communities.”
She said police need better training, and that if they’re not trained to deal with black communities then they shouldn’t be policing those communities.
Citizen Action of NewYork is a statewide group that lists, among other things, “dismantling racism and promoting racial justice,” as a goal.
Several people who took up the bullhorn were from Troy. One woman, a grandmother, said her biggest fear for her children wasn’t that they’d fall into a life of crime, but that if the police decided to treat them unfairly in some way, she’d have no recourse besides prayer.
Another person, who asked not to be identified, said he was friends with McDonald in high school, and that Troy police have long had issues with the black community. He said he was nearly thrown out of a concert on the Riverfront recently for trying to break up a fight between other people.
Police response
“We knew from the beginning that Officer Iler’s actions were justified,” said Troy Police Benevolent Association President Nicholas Laviano in an email. “This incident was investigated by local, state and federal authorities and was presented to a grand jury by an outside District Attorney’s office. After hearing from 47 witnesses, the grand jury based their decision on fact and not emotion.”
He took issue with those saying McDonald was unarmed, indicated his vehicle qualified as a weapon. He noted the 2016 terrorist attack in Nice, France, where a man drove a 19-ton truck into a crowd, killing 86 people and wounded several hundred more.
“As for the civilian review board I would welcome that. We had one a few years ago that is now defunct. I personally rode around with one of the members of that review board for an entire shift and showed him what policing in Troy really is like,” said Laviano.
He was less enthused with the idea of police having better training in dealing with black communities.
“The Troy police treats everyone, regardless of race with the utmost respect and professionalism. If any one wants to dispute that, I recommend they do a ride along with us and see exactly what we deal with day in and day out and how we treat the Troy residents,” he said.
The Troy Police Depart- ment issued a statement Wednesday afternoon regarding the demonstration: “The Troy Police Department respects all citizens and their right to voice their grievances in a peaceful manner. While many think of the police as guardians of life and property, it also our duty to protect ones constitutional rights. The Troy Police Department did just that today by assisting demonstrators with a safe environment to conduct their protest while still allowing for the uninterrupted service of police business of the day for non-protestors. We appreciate the peaceful conduct of those demonstrating and their respect for their fellow citizens needing to carry on with their day. We also thank the officers assigned to the demonstration and the professionalism and dignity exhibited by all.”
“Freedom of speech and respectful dialogue are essential to strong, healthy democracies,” Madden said. “The city of Troy supports the public’s constitutional right to gather peacefully and speak on issues involving our neighborhoods and community, and today’s demonstration illustrated the Troy Police Department’s commitment to uphold the rights of all citizens, regardless of age, ability, creed, or color.”