More than a year after the fatal officer-involved shooting of Mr. Jerame Reid, FBI and New Jersey US Attorney set to investigate.
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It was bit difficult today for Mr. Walter Hudson, an activist and Chairman of the National Awareness Alliance, to get excited about the news that the F.B.I and the New Jersey U.S. Attorney will investigate the December 2014 fatal officer-involved shooting of Mr. Jerame Reid, who, at the time of his death, was unarmed and complying with orders given by Bridgeton police. Unfortunately, Mr. Hudson has “been here before.”
About five years ago, Mr. Hudson found “his calling” as an activists when seeking justice for Mr. MoShawn Leach, another New Jersey man who was killed by police. That case, like Mr. Reid’s, ended up on the desk of Mr. Paul J. Fishman, but an indictment of the officer(s) didn’t materialize, and only time will tell as to what will be the fate of Mr. Bryheem Days and Mr. Roger Warley, the two officers seen on dashcam footage killing Mr. Reid, despite him posing no threat.
Delight, said Mr. Hudson, will come when Mr. Days and Mr. Warley are held accountable. Upon hearing the news that the New Jersey U.S Attorney’s Office and the FBI have opened an investigation into the facts and circumstances of the shooting, Mr. Reid’s mother was described by Mr. Hudson as “happy,” but not satisfied, as satisfaction will come only when both men, who are on paid leave from the Bridgeton Police Department, are jailed.
Mr. Reid, who exited the car with his hands up, shouldn’t be dead; he should be here, with us, argued Mr. Hudson in an exclusive with Techbook Online.
“At what point did the officers feel threatened?,” Mr. Hudson, who said the claim of officers fearing for their life is a cop-out, asked.
The aforementioned question is just one of many that Mr. Hudson, the family of Mr. Reid, and their supporters have. Another inquiry, for example, focuses on the driver of the black Jaguar (Mr. Reid was the passenger) that was pulled over on December 30th for not adhering to a stop-sign. Mr. Leroy Tut was, according to Mr. Hudson, arrested that night; questioned at the precinct; released at 5am; and was never seen again.
“Leroy has been protected in this whole thing,” Mr. Hudson said, noting that his gut instincts warn him of a few possible scenarios, including that Mr. Tut, supposedly a close friend of the deceased, was an informant assisting in other cases.
The gun recovered from the car was Mr. Tut’s, though police say Mr. Reid’s DNA was on it. Mr. Hudson is curious as to why Mr. Tut wasn’t arrested for the illegal possession of a firearm, and, if Mr. Reid’s DNA was really on the gun, was it his sweat, fingerprints, or a strand of hair? There are simply too many questions left unanswered, suggested Mr. Hudson, who has the expectation that “a fair and impartial investigation” will be conducted.
Getting an outside investigation into this case wasn’t easy, said Mr. Hudson, who, in the effort, considered students from Rowan and Rutgers University as allies, along with Mr. Lawrence Hamm, Chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress. Missing from the battlefield, however, was the local and national chapters of the NAACP and the black clergy from the state’s many churches. Mr. Hudson told me that he was “absolutely disappointed” in the ministers’ absence and questioned whether they are really in position to protect their flock.
“How can you sit up there and preach about God on Sunday, but come outside the church, knowing the community isn’t safe from police violence, and not doing anything?”
Two of the three founders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement were in Philadelphia last week and talked about the virtually non-existent relationship they have with the black church. Besides many of the activists who identify with the movement being the type of individuals that the church has pushed out, the black church, said Ms. Patrice Cullors, doesn’t show up for black lives. Mr. Hudson agrees. Like #BlackLivesMatter’s founders, Mr. Hudson said he only works with “those who are about the liberation of their people.”
When asked why he thinks the majority of black churches are being indifferent to the struggle, Mr. Hudson said, “they must reading from a different Bible.”
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