NEWARK, NJ — After 30 consecutive weeks, the People’s Organization for Progress temporarily changed the focus of its weekly “Justice Monday” rally in front of U.S. Attorney General for New Jersey Paul Fishman’s office in Newark to a “Day of Outrage” protest rally condemning the failure of the U.S. Justice Department to indict the police officers who shot and killed Jerome Reid on Dec. 30, 2014, in Bridgeton, an incident caught on video.
“The decision to not indict the officers came down last Monday, Aug. 22, to the shock and outrage of many,” said P.O.P. information officer Zayid Muhammad on Monday, Aug. 29. “The Reid case is the only case of the four where live actual videotape footage actually captures the lethal excess force being used. That videotape footage has gone viral all over the world, subjecting the U.S. Justice Department to some severe scrutiny from all sides of the issue.”
But Muhammad was joined by People’s Organization for Progress Chairman Larry Hamm and others, including surviving members of Reid’s family, who said video footage was not enough to get Fishman and the federal government to find sufficient fault with the officer involved to open a federal civil rights investigation into Reid’s death.
“We are outraged at how the Justice Department has handled this case,” said Hamm on Monday, Aug. 29. “The other three cases are the police shooting deaths of Abdul Kamal in Irvington, of Kashad Ashford in Lyndhurst and the police shooting of 14-year-old Radazz Hearns in Trenton. Hearns survived his violent ordeal only to face charges to justify the officers’ conduct.”
Betty Maloney, a member of the Freedom Socialist Party and the Committee to elect a Civilian Police Review Board in New York City, said the decision of Fishman’s office regarding Reid’s case is unfortunate, but not surprising, and that protest groups are needed to effect real change.
“There’s a lot of dedicated people in P.O.P., I mean, people that go out there every week to demonstrate,” said Maloney on Saturday, Aug. 27, during the Freedom Socialist Party and the Committee to elect a Civilian Police Review Board fundraiser in Harlem. “I do give P.O.P. respect for trying to work with a lot of groups. But it’s not just a matter of getting endorsements on paper; it’s also continuing to work and to define a program and to come up with an agenda that will maybe take power in Newark and maybe take power in New York City.”
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