On Nov. 8, nearly a hundred people gathered to march in downtown Newark to demand justice for Kashad Ashford, a 23 year old Black man, who was shot nine times in the head and torso by the Bergen County cops after the car he was driving crashed in Bergen County. Kashad was unconscious in the car according to eyewitness accounts. Police allege the car was stolen.
“We don’t want this swept under the rug. We don’t believe this is an open and shut case. He should not have been killed the way he was killed. We already sent a letter to the Bergen County Prosecutor demanding a full and impartial and fair investigation,” said Larry Hamm, Chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress at the rallying point of Springfield Ave. and West Market in Newark.
“We’re demanding that all the witnesses and all the evidence be brought into this case. We want justice for Kashad and we want justice for Kashad’s family,” continued Hamm.
“I spoke with the coroner’s office and they said they cannot release his autopsy without authorization by the state police. They are stopping everything from being released to his mother, Regina. As long as I have to be here, I’m gonna be here,” said Cecile Hepburn, Kashad’s grandmother at the rally.
Members of Kashad’s family traveled from as far away as Connecticut to participate in the march and rally that drew many youth—many who were friends of Kashad—and who are outraged by this racist police killing, one of many that have taken place around the country and where people are mobilized for justice.
The People’s Organization for Progress and the Family and Friends of Kashad Ashford have called on all to join in the efforts to have buses leave Newark, where Kashad was from, to travel to nearby Bergen County, where he was killed by the police, to demand justice there.