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NY Will Not Pursue Officers Who Shot and Killed Saheed Vassell

HeadlineApr 01, 2019

In New York, Attorney General Letitia James says she will not seek criminal charges against the police officers who shot and killed Saheed Vassell in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, last year. Police officers opened fire on Vassell, a 34-year-old African-American man who had bipolar disorder, after they allegedly mistook a welding torch he was holding for a gun. Eric Vassell, Saheed’s father, said of the decision, “It is heartbreaking that once again, the criminal justice system is treating police as if they are above the law, and failing to hold them accountable for killing an unarmed black man.” Click here to see our interview with Saheed Vassell’s parents

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