Like many, it was horrifying to watch the life of another black man – George Floyd - squeezed out of his body – literally – by a member of “America’s Finest”. And in a pandemic no less!
Gurley’s funeral is one of many.But the harsh reality is, that since I moved to the United States in 1996, I have lost count of the number of black and Latino men and immigrants killed by police without genuine cause. They leave behind a growing list of heartbroken mothers and family members whose hearts are forever pierced and whose tears, if combined, could fill an ocean.
Feb. 4, 2020 marked 21 years since Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo was murdered in the Bronx, New York by police in a hail of 41 bullets as he stood on his stoop and reached for his wallet. He was just 23 and would have turned 44 this September.
On May 23, 2003, unarmed Burkina Faso immigrant Ousmane Zongo was shot four times by a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer during an undercover counterfeit raid at a warehouse. The NYPD later admitted Zongo had nothing to do with the counterfeiting.
On July 24, 2009, homeless Sudanese immigrant Jonathan Deng was killed by cops in Iowa City, Iowa.
PLEADING
On Sept. 25, 2012, Guinean immigrant Mohamed Bah was shot seven times - and once in the head - by the NYPD inside his home. Mohamed’s mother Hawa Bah had called 911 for an ambulance for her son, who was in physical and emotional distress. NYPD officers arrived first. Reportedly, despite Mrs. Bah pleading with them not to, Emergency Services Unit officers forced their way into her son’s apartment - against NYPD protocol and without a warrant - with guns drawn and shot him eight times, killing him.
On Nov. 20, 2014, U.S. Virgin Islands national Akai Gurley, 28, was fatally shot by a NYPD officer who was patrolling stairwells in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)’s Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, Brooklyn.
On Mar. 1, 2015, Cameroonian immigrant Charley “Africa” Keunang was killed by cops in Los Angeles, California’s “Skid Row”.
On June 14, 2015, Sudanese immigrant Deng Manyoun was killed by cops in Louisville, Kentucky.
HOMELESS
On April 25, 2015, a homeless, unarmed Haitian immigrant, David Felix, was shot to death by two veteran NYPD detectives. He was an aspiring fashion student and loved world history.
In Sept. 2016, a Ugandan immigrant, Alfred Olongo, 38, was shot several times by police responding to a call for emergency psychiatric aid.
In Southaven, Mississippi, just before midnight on July 24, 2017, police killed undocumented immigrant, 41-year-old Ismael Lopez, after knocking on the door of the wrong house – while answering a domestic violence call – and opening fire. To make matters worse, the city argued in court that because Lopez was an undocumented immigrant, he wasn’t protected by the U.S. Constitution.
These are just a few immigrants shot and killed by police across the U.S. in recent years as the list gets longer and the protests last for a short time, while the beat simply goes on. Until the next time
This I have learnt as an immigrant, is part of the reality of life in America for people of color.
