Demands Increase After City Fails to Meet the Feliz Family’s March 31 Deadline: 50 Orgs Send Letter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Tuesday, April 1, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT

Tess Weiner, tess@justicecommittee.org, 224.213.5495

50 Organizations Urge NYPD Commissioner to Fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera for Killing Allan Feliz 

Demands Increase After City Fails to Meet the Feliz Family’s March 31 Deadline

New York, NY — This morning, 50 organizations sent a letter to NYPD Commissioner Tisch and Mayor Adams calling on them to fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera without a good guy letter or access to his pension for killing Allan Feliz in 2019. The letter also expresses grave disappointment in the city’s failure to meet the Feliz family’s deadline of March 31 to fire Lt. Rivera, which was supported by 32 city and state elected officials. 

“We are deeply concerned that we have now passed the family’s March 31 deadline and it has been nearly two months since Deputy Commissioner Maldondo found that Lt. Rivera violated NYPD protocols, broke the law, and lied to excuse himself from culpability and yet, you have not taken action to remove Lt. Rivera from the NYPD,” the letter states. 

The letter comes over five years after Mr. Feliz was shot in the chest at close range by Lt. Rivera during an unjust car stop that NYPD officers escalated with fatal consequences. The Feliz family has remained steadfast in their fight for accountability, in spite of a series of delays and obstructions by the administration, NYPD, and lieutenants police union.

“My family has seen Commissioner Tisch talk a good game about increasing accountability and integrity in the NYPD, so we are beyond disappointed that she has failed to take action to fire Lt. Rivera even though dozens of organizations, elected officials and even her own Deputy Commissioner are calling for it,” said Samy Feliz, brother of Allan Feliz. “If Tish wants to double down on recidivism, she needs to handle recidivism in the NYPD too by fire officers like Lt. Rivera who has a long history of abusing New Yorkers. This is a simple ask: take his gun and badge - that will save lives.”

"It's been over five years since Allan Feliz, an unarmed man who was on his way to pick up his stepdaughter from school, was brutally beaten and gunned down by Lt. Rivera during an illegal car stop," said Justice Committee Executive Director Loyda Colón (they/them). "The facts are clear and the NYPD deputy commissioner already recommended that Rivera be fired. Commissioner Tisch can and should fire Rivera today and show New Yorkers that she's serious about public safety by holding abusive police accountable.”

"Commissioner Tisch faces a pivotal test today on police accountability, one that comes directly from New Yorkers who have suffered at the hands of law enforcement,” said Lourdes M. Rosado, President & General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “The demand is clear: Lt. Rivera must be fired for the killing of Allan Feliz. His removal is not just necessary for accountability, but also for delivering long-overdue justice and closure to the Feliz family." 

“New York City deserves leaders who prioritize the safety and dignity of its people over the protection of abusive officers,” the letter states. “Lt. Rivera’s continued presence on the force is a threat to public safety and a stain on the NYPD’s credibility.” 

“Any further failure to act on [Deputy Commissioner Maldonado’s] recommendation is unacceptable. We call on you to immediately fire Lt. Rivera, without access to his pension or a “good guy” letter that would allow him to retain his gun. Anything less would be an abdication of your responsibility to the people of this city,”  the letter concludes.

Other Quotes:

“Removing Lt. Jonathan Rivera is not just about justice—it’s a vital measure of the NYPD’s accountability, public safety, and the respect owed to all New Yorkers, especially Black and Latinx communities that historically have been harmed by police engagement,” said Anthony Feliciano, Vice President for Community Mobilization at Housing Works. “His continued involvement with the force sends a troubling signal: that the NYPD shields those who endanger the very New Yorkers they pledge to protect. Immediate action to terminate Lt. Jonathan Rivera is necessary.”

“The Gathering for Justice is in solidarity with the Feliz family in demanding that Commissioner Tisch and Mayor Adams finally fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera,” said Carmen Perez, President of The Gathering for Justice. “Their refusal to meet the family’s March 31 deadline is more than a delay, it’s a moral failure that prolongs the pain of this family and undermines public trust. Every day Rivera remains on the force is a reminder that abusive officers are still being protected, not held accountable.”

“Allan Feliz should be alive and with his family today but because of NYPD’s practice of racial profiling he was murdered in 2019,” said Samah Sisay, Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Six years later, the least the department can do to ensure accountability is to follow the recommendation of NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado and fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera.” 

The full letter can be found here.

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Background: On October 17, 2019, NYPD Lt. Jonathan Rivera (who was a sergeant at the time) and Officers Edward Barrett and Michelle Almanzar pulled Allan Feliz over on the corner of E 211 St and Bainbridge Ave for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt. Bodyworn camera (bwc) footage shows officers acknowledging that Mr. Feliz was wearing his seatbelt, but rather than allowing him to drive away, the officers escalated by illegally detaining him and attacking him. Lt. Rivera climbed into the passenger side of the car, tasered, beat and threatened to shoot Mr. Feliz, and then shot him point blank in the chest. After Mr. Feliz was shot, Officer Barrett yanked Mr. Feliz’s limp body from the car, exposing his genitals. None of the officers immediately covered Mr. Feliz or provided medical aid. Instead, they left Mr. Feliz to bleed out, cuffed, and exposed. 

After years of delays and obstruction, in May 2023, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated fireable charges against Lt. Rivera for the killing of Allan Feliz. The NYPD delayed the process further by failing to deliver the charges to Lt. Rivera so that a discipline trial could be scheduled for over a year. Finally, after multiple rallies and press conferences, the NYPD delivered the charges in June 2024 and a discipline trial was held in November 2024. In February 2025, Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado determined Lt. Rivera to be guilty of excessive force and assault in the first degree and recommended he be fired. 

The Feliz family called for the NYPD commissioner and the mayor to make a swift decision that accepts Maldonado’s recommendation to fire Lt. Rivera by March 31, 2025. On March 6, a few days after what would have been Allan Feliz’s 37th birthday, 32 city and state elected officials signed on to a letter of support for the family, echoing their demands. Following the failure of the commissioner and mayor to meet the family’s demands of firing Lt. Rivera by March 31, 50 civil rights and community organizations sent a letter expressing their disappointment and urging immediate action on April 1.

About the Justice Committee:

Since the 1980s, the Justice Committee (JC) has been dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. The heart of our work is organizing and uplifting the leadership of families who have lost loved ones to the police and survivors of police violence. We empower our community to deter police violence, hold law enforcement accountable, and build people-led community safety through grassroots organizing campaigns, community empowerment, political education, our CopWatch program, and by developing safety mechanisms and projects that decrease reliance on police. By building solidarity with other anti-racist, immigrant and people of color-led organizations, the Justice Committee seeks to contribute to a broad-based movement for racial, social, and economic justice.