Death of Brooklyn Teen at the Hands of NYPD Sparks Riot

A vigil for a teenager erupted into violence.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The NYPD's reasoning for fatally shooting 16-year-old Kimani Gray was that he allegedly pointed a firearm at police officers. Gray's family remains skeptical. According to his sister, Mahnefah Gray, her brother knew better: "He has common sense... They killed my little brother for no reason."

Last night, an angry group took the streets of Brooklyn to mourn Gray's death and protest the actions of the police department.

As the crowd traveled from the location of the shooting to the 67th Precinct, the situation escalated, reportedly to the point that bottles were thrown at cops. According to NBC New York, the crowd was as large as seventy people, and a Rite Aid manager says that a store was looted and he was punched in the face by "several" people.

Paul Browne, spokesman for the NYPD, says that Gray pointed a revolver at two Brooklyn South Anti Crime plainclothes officers, prompting the fire 11 shots at the teen, hitting him multiple times. Mahnefah Gray insists that her brother was just adjusting his belt, adding that he wouldn't point a gun at police even if he had one in his possession at the time.

A witness told the New York Daily News that officers jumped out of their vehicle and "started shooting him and he went down, he was bleeding, holding his side, screaming, 'stop, stop.'"

[via Gothamist]

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