Brooklyn, NY – Dozens of community members gathered for a picket at the NYPD’s 71st Precinct in Brooklyn on March 31. In December 2021, 26-year-old Haitian American Eudes Pierre dialed 911 while experiencing a mental health crisis. Instead of assistance or care, officers Peter Lan and Conrado Abreu-Gerez from the 71st Precinct followed him in and out of a train station and to his home before shooting him ten times.

The murder of Eudes Pierre demonstrates how the NYPD continues to kill and brutalize the people of New York with near-impunity. Their violence falls disproportionately on Black, brown, immigrant and unhoused New Yorkers, as well as those experiencing mental health crises.

Abreu-Gerez continues to work at the 71st Precinct. The New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR), along with Eudes Pierre’s family, organized the picket to confront Abreu-Gerez along with his associates and demand that he be immediately fired and prosecuted.

Daniel Koh of the New York Alliance described Abreu-Gerez’s history of violence before and after the murder of Eudes Pierre. Around eight months earlier, he was part of a mob of police officers who brutalized Isiah Day, fracturing his spine. Since the murder of Eudes Pierre, the NYPD awarded Abreu-Gerez five times for “excellent police duty” and once for “meritorious police duty.” Over the same period, he has had five additional complaints ranging from police brutality to abuse of authority.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) ruled that Lan and Abreu-Gerez had acted “within NYPD guidelines.” Attorney General Letitia James declined to pursue charges against them. James is running this year for reelection to a third term. Her website calls her “the People’s Lawyer” and the “guardian of the legal rights of the people of New York.”

In their speech, NYAARPR Chair Shivani Ishwar addressed James directly, “You cannot be the People’s Lawyer if you don’t truly represent the people! You cannot win our vote while ignoring our demands!”

Attendees carried signs with a picture of Eudes Pierre on one side and a wanted poster of Conrado Abreu-Gerez on the other. Officers from the 71st Precinct watched the picket from the other side of their barricade, showing visible discomfort at the signs, speeches and chants which included “Fire killer cops!” and “How do you spell murderer? NYPD!”

To maintain and build pressure on the NYPD, the New York Alliance will continue to picket the 71st Precinct on the last Thursday of each month. The next picket will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 30. Along with Eudes Pierre’s family, the New York Alliance continues to fight for justice for Eudes Pierre and for community control of the police.

#NewYorkNY #NY #BrooklynNY #NYAARPR #EudesPierre #OppressedNationalities #InjusticeSystem #KillerCop

Brooklyn, NY — On Saturday, February 28, 30 community members gathered at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Macon branch to attend a justice for Eudes Pierre panel, organized by the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR).

Eudes Pierre, a young Haitian American man, was 26 years old when he was murdered by the NYPD in December of 2021. Pierre had called 911 himself while experiencing a mental health crisis, and the officers who responded to his call met him not with compassion but with violence. Despite understanding that Pierre was in distress, the officers harassed him, escalated the situation, and ultimately shot him ten times.

Over four years after Pierre’s death, his family continues to fight for justice, working closely with the New York Alliance. The panel focused on what justice can look like years after a loved one’s death at the hands of police, and how to change a system that continues to treat Black and brown lives as disposable, while allowing cops to get away with murder.

On the panel of speakers were Sheina Banatte, Eudes Pierre’s cousin and the managing director of advocacy of the Justice for Eudes Pierre Coalition; Joshua Lopez, the nephew of John Collado, a man who was killed by an undercover NYPD officer in 2011; and Sharif Hall, organizer and treasurer of the New York Alliance. The conversation was moderated by Shivani Ishwar, the chair of NYAARPR.

The panel opened by discussing the cases of Eudes Pierre and John Collado, and the ways in which the current system failed to deliver justice for them and their loved ones, or consequences for the officers responsible for the murders.

“We had to fight to change the narrative around Eudes’ death,” said Banatte, speaking about her cousin’s case. “The media was calling it a ‘suicide by cop.’” She went on to discuss how Pierre didn’t deserve to be dehumanized just because he was in distress. His death was not a suicide, but a murder at the hands of the NYPD.

The speakers then discussed the demands for justice, and how the fight continues years after a loved one’s death. NYAARPR’s Justice for Eudes Pierre campaign demands that the officers who killed Pierre be fired and prosecuted for murder; that police are removed from mental health crisis response; and that a system of community control over the police be implemented citywide.

Speaking on the importance of community control of the police, Hall said, “In the 60s, the Black Panther party advocated for community control. The Black liberation struggle at that time called for a lot of ways to give Black people control over different aspects of their lives.”

The panel closed on a call to action, reminding attendees to go beyond education to join the fight for justice. “Learning about these cases is just the first step,” Ishwar said. “We need to fight for our demands, and change the system that allows [the NYPD] to get away with murder.”

NYAARPR will be holding a Justice for Eudes Pierre protest outside of the NYPD’s 71st Precinct, the precinct responsible for killing Pierre. The protest will be held on March 31, the anniversary of the date of New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ refusal to pursue criminal charges against the officers.

#BrooklynNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #NYAARPR #EudesPierre