New Yorkers demand justice for Nolan Wells, Kohen Wile, and all stolen lives
New York, NY – On Sunday, November 1, over 200 community members gathered for a rally and march for Nolan Wells and all Black lives taken by racist violence around the country. Nolan Wells was just 18 years old when he went missing during a trip with a group of friends, all of whom were white.
Since then, the family has had to fight the Jackson County, Mississippi, sheriff's office and district attorney’s office to push every step of the investigation forward. In September, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges in his case, despite medical evidence directly contradicting the narrative that Wells died by accidental drowning.
New York’s protest was one of many across the country to demand justice for Nolan Wells and all stolen lives. Organizations including We the People NYC and the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression gathered in Foley Square before marching to Washington Square Park to join protesters from across the city.
Sheina Banatte of the Justice for Eudes Pierre Coalition connected the fight for Nolan Wells to the fight for Eudes Pierre. In both cases, the family struggles to fight for justice against a system that lies about their loved ones, obstructs the investigation, and continues to dehumanize them.
Banatte stated, “We have to keep fighting! The more they try to silence us, the louder we’ll be!”
November 1 would have also been the second birthday of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old murdered by Sargeant Hunter Foster of the Senatobia, Mississippi Police Department in June. Protesters alternated between chants of “Justice for Nolan Wells,” “Justice for Kohen Wiley,” and “Justice for Javits Frimpong,” a fifteen-year-old killed in the Bronx on October 29.
Dozens of NYPD officers surrounded and followed the march on foot, on bikes, and in vans and buses. Despite the heavy police presence, protesters continued to chant and march from Washington Square Park, taking the streets, blocking traffic and inviting passersby to join.
Daniel Koh, NYAARPR’s outreach chair, stated, “Police inflict racist violence in many forms, from gunning down people like Eudes Pierre to refusing to investigate de facto lynchings, from Jackson, Mississippi to Albany. The whole racist system has got to go. That’s why we fight for community control of the police, to take back the power to win justice for all stolen lives!”
We the People, the New York Alliance, the Justice for Eudes Pierre Coalition, and other community organizations present vowed to continue the fight for justice for all families impacted by police violence.