Vol. 76/No. 36      October 8, 2012

Cuevas was shot through the shoulder by a housing cop Sept. 7 as he ran from the corner bodega where he worked, fleeing a robbery. A passer-by who saw the robbery around 2 a.m. had called police, who surrounded the store.

According to the police, cop Ramysh Bangali accidentally fired his gun when Cuevas bumped into Bangali while fleeing. Tapes from two video cameras recorded the shooting, but in both videos it is hard to tell when the gun discharged.

After Cuevas fell to the ground “an officer dragged him away from the scene by one of his arms,” according to the New York Times. The police have not released the video showing this part of the incident.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the killing was a “tragedy … but I see nothing wrong with the procedure.”

Family members and neighborhood residents don’t buy the police account.

“What they did is criminal,” Fernando Martínez, a retired print shop worker who lives in the area, told the Militant during the protest. “Nobody believes it was an accident.”

“The cops didn’t even shout ‘freeze,’” noted Lewis Tyrell, a building maintenance worker. “The cop should be prosecuted or at least fired.”

Many of Cuevas’ family members have called for a grand jury investigation of the shooting. The prosecutors meanwhile have charged the three men accused in the robbery with second-degree murder for Cuevas’ death. Some protesters said that the three men should be charged in the death, but others disagreed.

“They’ve charged the robbers with murder,” said Tony Riley, “but not the cop who actually murdered him. I’m tired of the way the police treat the community.”
 
 
Related articles:
South San Francisco march protests cop killing of teenager
Illinois march protests cop killing of autistic youth  
 
 
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