Police Murder - NBPP Press Conference

[nattyreb]

THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY
NATIONAL MINISTRY OF CULTURE
P.O. BOX 25332
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07101
201-602-0780
December 26, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

POLICE KILLING CLOUDS KWANZAA, HOLIDAYS

A police killing in Irvington over the weekend casted a stormy cloud of cynicism, anger and distrust over the spirit of the holidays.
Around 3a.m. on Friday evening an unarmed black man was shot and killed by an Irvington Police officer at the Lyons Avenue Burger King parking lot.
The police version of the event says that an Officer Williams fired one shot at the vehicle of Brian Filmore vehicle in fear for his life when the driver failed to stop at his command.
The surviving passenger, Brandon Head, has a different version of what took place. According to Head, Officer Williams had a jacket over his uniform when he approached the car from the side, and that the officer did not identify himself as a police officer, nor did he make any demands or orders. Instead, according to this witness, the officer only asked the driver who he was. Frightened by the aggressive behavior from a perceived, armed stranger, Filmore pulled off. The officer then fired one shot, fatally hitting Filmore in the neck.
According to this version, Williams questioned Filmore about being in a stolen car when he drove up to place his order. Filmore denied it, and went on with his order. Strangely, moments later, it was Officer Williams bringing out their food order in one hand while having his other hand on his gun at the same time.
To make matters worse, according to this version, local emergency medical response was too slow. It appears that the officer was more concerned with police back up after the shooting. It appears that had emergency medical support been more prompt, then perhaps Filmore’s life could have been saved.
“What happened here is still not clear, but it does not appear that this officer had cause to shoot this young man. What should happen now is that there should be an immediate independent (Essex County run) investigation into this shooting, and that the officer in question should be relieved of his duties until that investigation determines just how justice should be served,” explained Minister Zayid Muhammad, a locally based national official for the New Black Panther Party.
“The irony of this shooting’s timing is not just that it tragically happened on the morning of the holiday, but that it happens on the heels of us participating in an anti-street violence summit in Newark just days ago” Muhammad continued.
“Let’s see if our area officials are as concerned about violence at the hands of the police as they are about street violence,” he finished.
On Tuesday, at 12 noon, at the Lyons Avenue Burger King, the site of the incident, the New Black Panther Party will be joined in a united front by other community activists, including Salaam Ismial and Lawrence Hamm, and family members of the slain man, to demand justice for his family.
For more information, please call 201-602-0780.

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