Revolution #276, July 29, 2012

Vigil for Ramarley Graham

On July 19, a vigil for Ramarley Graham was held in front of the house where he was shot down in cold blood by NYPD cop Richard Haste. On June 11, narcotics detectives kicked down the door of the Graham house in the Bronx, guns drawn, and in a matter of seconds, a death sentence—shooting Ramarley Graham close range in the bathroom for no reason other than being young and Black and therefore, in the eyes of the police, suspicious.

A vigil has been held every Thursday (the day Graham was killed) and this was the 18th vigil, marking the 18 short years Graham lived before his murder. After this last vigil, 350 people marched to the 47th police precinct. Many joined in from the neighborhood and people were there from other parts of the city, including volunteers from the BAsics Bus Tour. One sign had at the top: “NYC is a City Divided” with a big jagged line down the middle. On one side of the line it said, “While we cry and a family mourns” with photos of people crying and protesting. On the other side it said “47 Precinct—They Celebrate Cowards!” with photos of the police applauding the cop who killed Ramarley Graham. This was right in sync with the Revolution graphic BAsics Bus Tour volunteers held up during the march—with the same photo of the cops clapping, with the title: “This is Why We Call Them Pigs!”

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