And in upstate New York, protesters gathered Wednesday outside the Troy Police Department to demand justice for Dahmeek McDonald, an unarmed African-American man who was shot last August during a traffic stop. The protest came after a grand jury voted not to indict Jarrod Iler, the police officer who shot McDonald in the head and arm. Protesters called for Governor Andrew Cuomo to appoint an independent prosecutor, and demanded that the city of Troy create a civilian review board, drawing comparisons to the national pattern of police officers receiving preferential treatment after extrajudicial shootings of people of color. This is Dahmeek McDonald’s uncle, Messiah Cooper, speaking Wednesday.
Messiah Cooper: “We have to call for change. We have to call on the governor to step in, and not only when there is a murder but in any aggressive force use by the police. If their firearm is discharged, the attorney general needs to step in and handle the case. It just can’t be if they kill us. And even when they kill us, we still receive no justice.”
This story has been corrected to reflect that Dahmeek McDonald was shot, not killed, by a Troy, NY police officer in August 2017.