Constance Malcolm (pictured), the mother of Ramarley Graham (pictured below), is begging for the U.S. Justice Department to open a federal investigation in to her son’s death.
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In a special op-ed for the New York Daily News, Constance Malcolm (pictured) notes that “while no federal charges or court ruling will ever bring Ramarley back, justice can help provide some level of confidence in our system and the concept of right and wrong.”
“I was unable to celebrate my son’s last three birthdays with him, but I need to know that our government and legal system serves justice and cares equally about the lives of all people.”
Malcolm also framed her son’s murder in the wider context of fighting police violence, “The lives of Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, and so many other New Yorkers like Ramarley — primarily Black and Latino — have not been honored by our justice system.”
“When defenders of abusive stop-and-frisk police practices claimed the NYPD already had sufficient oversight and mechanisms of accountability by citing district attorneys and other entities, it always struck me as disingenuous given the consistent failures to hold officers accountable for recklessly taking the lives of so many unarmed New Yorkers.”
Ramarley was shot dead by NYPD officers in February 2012, after they chased him into his Bronx home, on suspicion he had a gun in his waistband (Graham was unarmed at the time). Last year, a judge threw out the indictment against Richard Haste, the officer who fired the fatal shot, citing a discrepancy in instructions given to the grand jury he claimed were misleading.
The family is currently fighting for the Justice Department to intervene.
No mother, parent or family should ever have to go through this,” Malcolm commented.
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