Justice for Iman Morales!

On Sept. 24, the New York City Police Department killed yet another member of our community. The victim: Iman Morales, a 35-year-old Latino man living in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

Iman Morales, right, fell off a 10-foot ledge and died after being tasered by an NYPD officer.

Morales suffered from depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In an emotionally distorted state, Morales stood naked on a 10-foot ledge in his neighborhood, while his mother pled for him to come down to safety. Neighbors called 911 and NYPD officers from the Emergency Service Unit arrived on the scene.

After some time aggressively ordering Morales to come down from the ledge—instilling further fear and confusion in the emotionally disturbed man—commanding officer Lt. Michael Pigott issued a fatal order. Pigott commanded 10-year-veteran Sgt. Nicholas Marchesona to taser Morales, who was still on the ledge. The taser put Morales’s body into a state of shock and he fell face-first to the pavement below. Morales later died in Kings County Hospital.

All this was done in front of his pleading mother, Olga Negron, who, officers prevented from talking to her son. The scene was videotaped by some of the neighbors who were present.

The use of the Taser was in clear violation of the police’s own rules. Emergency service training supposedly includes how to deal with emotionally disturbed individuals and the use of non-lethal restraints. When questioned as to why no inflatable bed had been placed down in case Morales fell, the NYPD claimed the bed was “en route” but did not make it to the scene in time.

Civil rights attorney Ron Kuby has taken the case of the Morales family and called for criminal charges against the officers. To this date, no officers involved in the killing have been criminally charged. Overcome with guilt, Lt. Pigott took his own life Oct. 2. Sgt. Marchesona “was taken off the streets and assigned to [administrative duty], though he still has his gun and badge” pending an investigation by the department. (Newsday, Sept. 25)

In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, a Black and Latino working-class community, there are no illusions as to why this happened. The NYPD terrorizes such poor and working-class communities on a daily basis, routinely disregarding even their own policies to intimidate and brutalize residents. These normal indignities are only amplified when the NYPD interacts with community members suffering from physical and mental disabilities.

Even Anthony Miranda, a retired NYPD sergeant who is now chairman of the National Latino Officers Association of America, admitted, “Such a death would not occur in an upscale neighborhood or a white neighborhood.” (Newsday, Sep.25th)

The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands with Olga Negron in demanding justice for her son’s death. We need a mass movement against police brutality that makes the cops think twice whenever they consider attacking a member of our communities. Justice for Iman Morales!