Greater than 100 residents of Utica, N.Y., grieving the demise of a 13-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a police officer there final week, gathered at a church on Sunday afternoon to demand accountability for his killing.
The boy, Nyah Mway, was strolling within the metropolis with one other boy on Friday night time after they had been stopped by three cops. When one officer requested to pat them down, Nyah fled, footage from officers’ body-worn cameras reveals.
The police stated in a press release that Nyah had displayed “what gave the impression to be a handgun” as he ran. In footage that has been slowed down, it seems that he turns whereas holding one thing that appears like a handgun, earlier than he’s tackled, held to the bottom and shot.
The police later decided that he had been holding a pellet gun.
On Sunday, the mayor of Utica, Michael P. Galime, answered questions from residents who crammed the auditorium at Tabernacle Baptist Church. Police officers weren’t in attendance.
Nearly the entire attendees had been a part of town’s Karen neighborhood — members of an ethnic group from Myanmar, previously often known as Burma, who communicate the Karen language. Nyah’s relations are Karen refugees.
In Utica, a metropolis of about 60,000, refugees and their households make up a couple of quarter of the inhabitants.
Nyah’s killing was the primary time {that a} Karen particular person in america was killed by the police, Mr. Galime stated on the assembly, which was livestreamed on a Fb web page for Utica’s Karen neighborhood.
“As I stand right here right now, I’m not asking you to cease being indignant,” he stated. “I’m not standing right here telling you to bury your grief and your emotions.”
Residents, some talking by means of an interpreter, questioned the mayor in regards to the protocols officers adopted when pursuing individuals and requested what would occur subsequent to the officers concerned within the capturing. They requested Mr. Galime how he may forestall what occurred to Nyah from occurring to a different baby. Many voiced their anger on the circumstances of Nyah’s demise: He was already on the bottom, subdued by officers, when he was shot.
On Saturday night, the police recognized the three officers. Patrick Husnay, a six-year veteran of the Utica Police Division, was the officer who shot Nyah, the police stated. The others had been recognized as Bryce Patterson, a four-year veteran, and Andrew Citriniti, who has been on the pressure for 2 and a half years.
All through the assembly Sunday, Mr. Galime emphasised that the New York Legal professional Common’s Workplace would decide if the officer’s use of pressure was justified. Although Mr. Galime usually stated he couldn’t reply questions in regards to the officers’ choices as a result of he was not personally there or as a result of that was the purview of state officers, he advised the group, “I didn’t see anger.”
“I noticed three officers making an attempt to carry out their jobs,” he stated. “And the tip outcome was the worst outcome we will presumably think about.”
The assembly, which lasted about two and a half hours, was largely peaceable. However at one level, organizers needed to step in and calm a number of individuals down after a lady, who was upset in regards to the mayor’s remarks at a information convention the day earlier than, when he appeared to sympathize with the cops within the presence of Nyah’s relations, started shouting at him.
Others joined her in sharing their frustrations.
One other girl challenged the mayor to “take a aspect,” saying the boys had been stopped due to their race. “That is an injustice,” she stated to the mayor.
The mayor pushed again, arguing that he had reviewed the footage and that “there was no reference or any indication that there was any racism.”
In accordance with a police assertion, the three officers stopped the boys whereas investigating current robberies the place the suspects had been described as Asian males who brandished a black firearm and “forcibly demanded and stole property from victims.” The boys had been approached as a result of they matched the outline, the police stated, and had been close to the placement of the robberies on the identical time of day.
The Police Division additionally launched a sequence of movies from the officers’ body-worn cameras. In a single clip, an officer approaches the 2 boys, one in every of whom is seated on a bicycle. Two different officers method and start circling the boys with their flashlights. The primary officer then asks if they will pat down the boys to “be sure you don’t have any weapons on you.”
At that time, Nyah fled on foot, based on the police.
Slowed-down footage reveals Officer Patterson chasing him, and when Nyah seems to show, holding one thing that appears like a handgun, the officer yells “Gun!” and tackles him.
Officer Husnay’s body-camera video reveals him operating behind the pair, pulling out his gun as he approaches them.
As Officer Patterson and Nyah battle on the bottom, a gunshot might be heard. The officers, together with Officer Husnay, step away instantly, the footage reveals.
Nyah was taken to a hospital, the place he died, the police stated.
Along with the legal professional common’s investigation, the Police Division is investigating the incident, Mark Williams, the police chief, stated on the information convention on Saturday. The officers concerned had been all placed on administrative go away with pay, he stated.
On Saturday night, Utica residents gathered close to the location of the capturing for a vigil within the boy’s honor. Some lit candles, and a few introduced Mylar balloons within the form of the quantity 13, Nyah’s age.
Earlier that day, Lay Htoo, who recognized himself as a detailed relative of Nyah’s, stated his household wished justice for his killing.
The boy’s mom “desires the officer to be in jail eternally,” he stated.
