Police Murder Victim Khiel Coppin

Peoples' Justice – a coalition of NYC-based grassroots organizations fighting police brutality -

has issued this statement today condemning last night's killing by the New York Police Department (NYPD) of 18-year-old Khiel Coppin. 

Brooklyn City councilmember Charles Barron, who is investigating the incident, expressed condolences for Khiel's mother, saying,

"When she called for help, it was like dialing M for murder. We need to decentralize the police department. We carry around a candy bar—they shoot us. Little Clifford Glover had an afro pick and they killed him, Amadou Diallo's wallet was enough to get him killed. Now a hairbrush! The police have gone wild."

The statement from Peoples' Justice follows:

Last night,18-year-old Khiel Coppin's name was added to the long list of those gunned down by the NYPD. Peoples' Justice is deeply saddened and outraged at last night's killing of Khiel by the NYPD.

The facts speak for themselves: he had no gun—he had a hairbrush. Only the NYPD would believe that a hairbrush is a deadly weapon that requires the firing of 20 bullets, much like Amadou Diallo's wallet. According to news reports, it was after Khiel put his hands up in the air, with nothing in them, that the shooting began. And after he was down and seriously injured, he was then handcuffed, a practice that seems to have become standard NYPD practice.

With the one-year anniversary of the killing of Sean Bell by the NYPD looming and the murder of Jayson Tirado fresh in our minds, this latest killing at the hands of trigger-happy police officers is a disturbing reminder that police violence continues, with people of color as its primary targets. How many more people need to be killed by cops until we say enough is enough and enact lasting change? How many bullets need to be fired for people to be truly outraged at the epidemic of police violence in this city?

This killing once again reveals the pattern – and policy – of the NYPD to shoot to kill in communities of color as an initial response, regardless of whether the circumstances call for deadly force.

According to today's Daily News, three of the five police officers were either sergeants or a detective – not inexperienced police officers. This level of command personnel highlights that the policy of the NYPD is to shoot now and ask questions later in communities of color.

We demand that policing which only serves to brutalize and terrorize communities of color must stop.

After the murder of Sean Bell last year, Peoples' Justice organized several rallies and demonstrations and will be organizing around the upcoming Bell trial.