New York City, NY – On the evening of September 9, organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression organized a speakout at city hall to protest a spike in killings by the NYPD. In less than a week, officers gunned Pamela Cisneros in Times Square and Chaun Bottom on the Brooklyn Bridge. The NYPD has shot and killed eight people so far in 2026, after a record high of 13 shot and killed in 2025.

The speakout began with chants of “Justice for Chaun Bottom” and “When Black lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Almost immediately, two officers from the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau ordered organizers to stop using amplified sound, threatening to confiscate equipment and issue summons. Along with a beat cop and two plainclothes officers, police remained nearby, blocking access to a Citi Bike station. The New York Alliance continued to chant and speak out, drawing a crowd at City Hall Park.

The speakout identified a pattern of justification for unilateral violence by police; for both Cisneros and Bottom, the NYPD described them posthumously as mentally unwell.

Ruby Doswell, speaking for the New York Alliance, said that the NYPD pushes forward the narrative that officers had no choice but to use deadly force, but then “delays or refuses to release body cam footage and keeps the investigation internal.”

In many cases, the family and loved ones of those shot by police dispute the NYPD narrative. The Daily News reported that Chaun Bottom’s mother was shocked to hear the NYPD’s description of her son, given he had no history of mental health struggles.

The NYPD has been consistent in its approach to control the narrative around people they shoot and kill. They refuse to identify the deceased or release body camera footage. The Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information (DCPI) stages a press conference with a prepared statement that blames the deceased and uses consistent language to paint them as dangerous. When police are found later to have lied, there are rarely consequences.

The New York Alliance was joined by organizers from We The People NYC, a mutual aid collective based in Harlem and Bed-Stuy. Relly Rebel, speaking on behalf of We the People, called out city hall’s meek response to police misconduct, saying, “They are playing in our faces.”

No matter the party affiliation of the mayor or city council members, the police have remained one of the most powerful political forces in the city. The NYPD has brutalized and murdered Black and brown New Yorkers under every administration since its founding.

Daniel Koh of the New York Alliance described the NYPD as “a powerful enemy, one that we have seen city hall and the mayor’s office hesitate to stand up to. But the people will hold Mayor Mamdani accountable to his campaign promises about public safety!”

The New York Alliance will continue to fight for community control of the police, which would elect a community board with full authority to determine rules, budget, and discipline of corrupt and killer cops.

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