Here in New York, family and community members are demanding justice for Raul de la Cruz, a 42-year-old man from the Bronx who was critically injured in late March after NYPD officers shot him six times. De la Cruz was experiencing a mental health crisis when his father called 311 for help. The call was routed to a 911 operator, who dispatched police officers who did not speak Spanish. The officers began firing at de la Cruz within seconds of arriving, claiming he had a knife. De la Cruz was taken to the hospital, where he remained unconscious for days, and is now slowly recovering. His supporters rallied outside the Bronx police precinct Friday. This is de la Cruz’s 9-year-old cousin Juliana Fuentes confronting police officers.
Juliana Fuentes: “You’re abusers. Really, you’re abusers. You’re really abusers, what you are. You wanted to kill him. Why you wanted to kill him? He’s my cousin. Why you wanted to kill him? I don’t know why you want to kill. For what? For what?”