Jateik Reed, 19, captured on tape being struck by NYPD officers, wants independent investigation into allegations of police brutality
Attorneys for a young man beaten by police in New York City are calling on the governor to appoint a special investigator to look into the matter. Jateik Reed, a 19 year-old from the Bronx, will be joined by his family and legal team at the Bronx supreme court house at 11am on Thursday to make the announcement.
On 26 January, several police officers from the New York police department's 42nd precinct were caught on camera appearing to strike Reed on a Bronx sidewalk. The officers are seen hitting the young man in the back with their batons while he is curled up on the pavement. At one point an officer appears to threaten the individual filming the incident with pepper-spray.
Reed received multiple staples in his head and arm as a result of his arrest. Officers allegedly continued the assault in a police van and pepper-sprayed him while he was detained.
"After they arrested him [Jateik], I have witnesses that say they were still beating him in the van. They still beat him when they brought him to the precinct. Sprayed him in the face with mace in the precinct and everything," Reed's mother, Schuan Reed, told the Guardian.
The police claim Jateik was seen handling a small plastic bag containing a white substance. Jateik faces a variety of charges, including harassment, resisting arrest and marijuana possession.
Following his arrest, Schuan and her son Jashuan, 17, headed to the precinct to inquire about Jateik. They, too, were arrested and allegedly assaulted and threatened by police officers. Reed's mother says she had repeatedly asked to speak to captain but was denied, and told she could only speak to sergeant.
"I said I don't want to speak to the sergeant because he had something to do with the incident, so he can't help me. So I asked: 'What do I have to do to in order to be able to speak to the captain?' He said, 'You can't speak to the captain. We can't even speak to the captain,'" Schuan said.
"When I went to walk out they stopped us, just snatched Jashaun, threw him on the floor and started hitting him. I said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' They snatched me, threw me on the floor," she added.
Schuan described a violent scene as her son Jashuan was arrested, claiming the police "punched him in his face three times and was stepping on his head." According to Schuan, one officer said to Jashuan, who was handcuffed, ""Say something so I can knock you the fuck out.'" Reed claims she encouraged her son not to invite further conflict. "I told Jashaun, you don't say anything. Don't move, don't gesture or anything."
Reed had another son, who is four, with her at the time: "I was trying to grab the baby and they pulled him from me." She says her mistreatment didn't end with her arrest, but continued in her cell. "When they threw me in the cell the officer slapped me in my face – it was a black officer named Ferguson – he slapped me in my face, and a hispanic officer, she slapped me in my face."
On Monday, Jateik Reed was released on bail $10,001 bail. Jateik's attorneys are calling on governor Cuomo to appoint New York State attorney-general Eric Schneiderman to investigate the officers involved in Jateik's arrest. The district attorney offered Reid the opportunity to sign an agreement allowing them pursue an investigation of the incident provided he co-operates with the DA's office.
Jateik's legal team has refused to allow the office responsible for overseeing his prosecution to carry out the investigation into his allegations of abuse. At the hearing on Monday, one of Jateik's attorneys, Michael Warren, said the district attorney's office was unfit to carry out the investigation due to its "symbiotic" relationship with the police department.
One week after Jateik's arrest, Bronx police officers entered the home of 19 year-old Ramarley Graham and shot him dead in his bathroom. The NYPD claims the officers believed Graham had a weapon. Initially the department said Graham ran into his home after being ordered to stop. Video provided by Graham's landlord, however, appears to show the young man walking, not running, into his home. Moments later police officers are seen running up after him. After a few minutes of kicking the front door an officer was able to gain entry into the building from the back and Graham was killed. A bag of marijuana was found in the toilet but no weapon was recovered. Graham's grandmother and six year-old brother were home at the time of his killing. The grandmother claims the NYPD detained her for over five hours and denied her medication.
The combination of the two incidents has led to a massive outpouring of grief and anger throughout the city. Multiple rallies and marches have been held in the Bronx. A rally that began in front of Graham's home on Monday night drew several members of the community, who marched to the 47th precinct demanding justice.