Brooklyn, NY – On September 18, close to a hundred people came out to protest the NYPD shooting 3 civilians on the subway. The protest was organized by the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR).

On Sunday, September 15, two NYPD officers followed a 49-year-old man, Derell Mickles, up several flights of stairs at the Sutter Avenue L train station in Brownsville. They suspected that Mickles skipped the $2.90 fare and proceeded to follow him closely. A confrontation ensued and an officer drew their gun after Mickles allegedly pulled a knife—which NYPD has said they have lost. An officer responded by shooting, hitting Mickles, two bystanders and his fellow officer.

Those shot are currently in the hospital recieving critical care. The officer who fired the gun is not facing any consequences and instead is being praised by cop-mayor Eric Adams.

“I know people would say that police officers should never discharge their guns on the subway system. Idealism is not realism,” said Adams. “Policing is a very complicated series of events that unfold at a pace that is unimaginable.”

NYAARPR organized the 3rd protest of the week surrounding the shooting at Sutter Avenue. The group gathered at Barclay Center, where the NYPD had already begun setting up barricades. The program included speakers from Brooklyn Eviction Defense and NYU Students for a Democratic Society.

The program was led by Briony Smith, the Community Education Chair of NYAARPR, who led chants with a fellow NYAARPR member, Daniel Koh.

In between chants of “Military, Cops they’re all the same! Get these pigs off our trains!”, Smith gave an introduction to the event, stating, “For two dollars and ninety cents, the NYPD thinks that they can shoot up a crowded subway platform. That ain’t right!”

“You shouldn’t have to risk your lives just to get on the trains. No one should have to do that. And you know what? I’m not fucking paying shit,” said Khadija Haynes from Brooklyn Eviction Defense, the first speaker of the program. “The system is rotten. You can go to school, and get a PHD, and not be able to afford a basement apartment. Why? Because the system is rigged against you. It’s time for something new. Now is not the time to make excuses. It’s time to fight for something new!”

Haynes was followed by Eb Ahmed, who spoke on behalf of NYU Students for a Democratic Society.

“And let’s get this shit straight—people are trying to claim that the struggle of the Palestinians and our struggles here in America are separate, that we are two disconnected peoples,” said Ahmed. “How dare they say that? We and the Palestinians are the same. We drink the same water. We breathe the same air. We share the same emotions and we get shot by the same guns! Which is why we say ‘NYPD. KKK. IOF, The’re all the same!’”

“Public transportation should be free for the people of New York City. Now is the time to get involved in organizations like the New York alliance and demand community control of our own communities and demand community control of the police,” stated Sharif Hall, the treasurer of NYAARPR. “Because Mayor Adams and the Police Commissioner obviously don’t have control over their officers, and it’s time we have control over how we’re policed!”

Once the speeches were done, the protesters left Barclays and attempted to march to the NYPD’s 78th Precinct nearby. After more than 100 cops blocked the march route twice and nearly kettled the protesters, the crowd dispersed, with many heading to the simultaneous protest at Union Square in Manhattan.

NYAARPR has a few speak-outs planned for the following weeks surrounding their Cops Off the Subway campaign. The group will continue to put pressure on Mayor Adams to demand that money go towards communities instead of the cops.