Thousands march in Crown Heights after police killing of Saheed Vassell
New York, NY – On April 5, about 2000 people marched in the streets of Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights in response to the NYPD’s murder of Saheed Vassell.
The evening began with a rally on the corner of Utica Avenue and Montgomery Street, the site where the NYPD pulled up and shot Saheed Vassell in the back. They arrived after three people called 911, claiming that Vassell was carrying a gun. However, on closer inspection, it was a silver shower head.
There was a round of speeches given by activists and people who knew Saheed. Many mentioned the fact that Saheed was well known in the neighborhood and regularly walked around the different stores.
Nerdeen Kiswani, an organizer with Within Our Lifetime, and whose father has a store on the block, said, “People who live here, people who worked here all knew Saheed. They knew that he walk around with various objects that he found. He would come into my dad’s store and show off what he had. Then my dad would give him water.” She continued talking about how newcomers and gentrifiers can’t come to the neighborhood and expect to change it, but rather have to learn about the community, if anything.
The family of Saheed let go several balloons as the sun set.
The march began, and thousands began walking towards the police precinct about a mile away. The chants ranged from, “FTP! Fuck the police!” to “How do you spell criminal? NYPD!”
The march ended at the precinct. Small speak-outs broke out as folks began slowly filing towards the subways.