Family Demands Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Shea Fire NYPD Officers Who Killed Feliz; Calls for Defunding of the NYPD
In response to Attorney General Letitia James’ decision not to charge NYPD Sgt. Jonathan Rivera and Officers Michelle Almanzar and Edward Barrett for killing Allan Feliz, the Justice Committee released the following statement from Mr. Feliz’s family:
We are outraged and devastated that Attorney General James delivered NO JUSTICE for the murder of our son, grandson, brother, cousin, brother-in-law, and father, Allan Feliz. We, as a family, will continue to fight and seek changes to the system and the elected officials that are supposed to represent us.
Almost a year ago, Allan was racially profiled and stopped in his car by Sgt. Rivera and Officers Almanzar and Barrett. After shooting Allan, who was unarmed, they dragged him out of the car by his pants, pulling his pants down and exposing his genitals – leaving him to bleed out on the street like an animal. No one should be treated like this.
It is unimaginably painful that Allan was taken from us by those who are supposedly meant to protect and serve us. Allan loved his Washington Heights community. He used to organize barbecues for children in the neighborhood. He helped people out when they didn’t have food and needed help getting on the subway. He should still be with us.
The last year has been even more stressful, frustrating and devastating because of AG James’ shameful and disrespectful treatment of our family. Right after Allan was killed, the AG’s Office told us not to speak to the press. They said it would get in the way of their investigation and they wanted to do the best job possible. Because we trusted them, we didn’t share Allan’s story for a long time, but what good did that do? It just meant that his story got swept under the rug.
Then in February the AG’s Office told us they had finalized their investigation. We believed we would hear their decision in February but instead we had to go another seven months without a decision or answers. We and our lawyer repeatedly emailed the AG’s Office trying to get updates but they ignored us. Finally, they gave us the news that they are not prosecuting Allan’s killers on a Friday afternoon, right before the one year anniversary of his murder.
Attorney General James wants New Yorkers to believe that she cares about police accountability. She made sure to tweet a photo of herself painting “Black Lives Matter” on the street in Brooklyn, but she completely failed in her duty to hold Allan’s killers accountable.
We do not accept this outcome and will continue to fight for justice and change for Allan. We will not remain silent as our families and community members are unnecessarily and unjustly taken from us. We are now demanding that Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Shea immediately fire NYPD Sgt. Jonathan Rivera and Officers Michelle Almanzar and Edward Barrett.
Family members who released this statement include:
Mery Verdeja, mother of Allan Feliz
Cesar Feliz, father of Allan Feliz
Samy Feliz, brother of Allan Feliz
Ashley Verdeja, sister of Allan Feliz
Kimberly Feliz, sister fo Allan Feliz
Juely Aquino, mother of Allan Feliz’s son
Eli Feliz, son of Allan Feliz
Mariel Mejia, cousin of Allan Feliz
Ileana Mejia, cousin of Allan Feliz
Astrid Nunez, cousin of Allan Feliz
Mercedes Feliz, grandmother of Allan Feliz
Jazzmine Feliz, sister-in-law of Allan Feliz
Background on the NYPD killing of Allan Feliz: On 10/17/19, NYPD Sgt. Jonathan Rivera and Officers Michelle Almanzar and Edward Barrett killed unarmed Allan Feliz. They racially profiled Allan, wrongfully stopped him while he was driving and escalated the situation. Sgt. Rivera shot him. The officers dragged him out of the car, causing him to become undressed, cuffed him, and left him exposed and bleeding out for the world to see. In spite of this horrible reality, Attorney General James has chosen not to pursue charges against the officers who murdered Allan.
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