In response to this statement from Hawa Bah, mother of Mohamed Bah, the Justice Committee released the following statement by Co-Director Loyda Colon:
It outrageous and unacceptable that the de Blasio administration fought the liability ruling against Edwin Mateo for this long, refused Mohamed Bah's mother's countless requests for a meeting and forced the Bah family through years of suffering. Again, and again, Mayor de Blasio has shown his true colors in his disrespect of families who've lost loved ones to the police.
We stand with Mrs. Hawa Bah, Mohamed's mother, in her demand that Edwin Mateo and all other officers involved in Mohamed's killing be fired.
The Bah case is a clear example of why the NYPD - a militarized police force - should not have the power to respond to incidents in which people are in emotional crisis and need care, not criminalization. In spite of the NYPD’s crisis intervention training and alleged efforts to change their practice, people struggling with mental health issues continue to be killed and abused by officers. Dwayne Jeune, Deborah Danner, Ariel Galarza, Miguel Antonio Richards… the list goes on and on.
We thank Mrs. Bah for her leadership and amplify her call that the NYPD be eliminated as first responders to people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
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