Groups seek to have police shooting cases reopened

By Associated Press

Posted Sep 9, 2020 

Malcolm Gracia is among eight cases that State House protesters want re-examined

BOSTON (AP) — Supporters of eight Massachusetts families whose loved ones have died at the hands of police planned a demonstration at the Statehouse on Wednesday to ask the governor to reopen past cases of what they call police brutality. One of the families is that of Malcolm Gracia of New Bedford.

The families along with the organization Mass Action Against Police Brutality want Gov. Charlie Baker to assign a special prosecutor to look at the cases.

The protest is being held in solidarity and support of the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man from Kenosha, Wisconsin shot in the back by a white officer last month. The shooting sparked days of sometimes violent protests.

“The government of Massachusetts has routinely refused to indict, much less convict and jail any officer that has taken the life of a civilian,” Brock Satter, an organizer for Mass Action Against Police Brutality, said in a statement.

The families along with the organization Mass Action Against Police Brutality want Gov. Charlie Baker to assign a special prosecutor to look at the cases.

The protest is being held in solidarity and support of the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man from Kenosha, Wisconsin shot in the back by a white officer last month. The shooting sparked days of sometimes violent protests.

“The government of Massachusetts has routinely refused to indict, much less convict and jail any officer that has taken the life of a civilian,” Brock Satter, an organizer for Mass Action Against Police Brutality, said in a statement.

The families of Gracia, DJ Henry, Eurie Stamps, Burell Ramsey-White, Ross Batista, Usaamah Rahim, Terrence Coleman, and Juston Root are all currently involved in efforts to have their cases reopened.

Representatives of several of the families were expected to attend Wednesday’s demonstration, Satter said.

The 15-year-old Gracia was shot to death by New Bedford police in 2012 after police and witnesses said he tried to stab an officer. An investigation by former Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter found that officers were justified in shooting Gracia. The family’s attorney, Don Brisson, has contended Gracia did not stab the officer. He has said Gracia was shot in the back and that police covered up the case.

In January, a Superior Curt judge ruled that the police stop of Gracia and a friend was illegal. Police had stopped Gracia and a friend after they thought they saw the youths, who were unknown to them, make a gang handshake on a police surveillance camera.

BREATHE!, a New Bedford activist group, and other New Bedford protesters this spring, have demanded that Attorney General Maura Healey charge police officers involved in the stop with the killing of Gracia.

The Standard-Times contributed to this report.