Body camera footage from an incident where a New York City police officer fatally shot a man threatening officers with a knife was released 20 months after the incident, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
Kawaski Trawick, 32, was fatally shot by NYPD officers Herbert Davis and Brendan Thompson responding to 911 calls from his neighbors on April 14, 2019, the Post reported. A family member criticized Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for the delayed release of the footage and for not firing the officers.
“If Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD were serious about transparency or discipline, as they say they are, they would have allowed us to view the unedited and uncut footage before releasing their version to the public and they would have fired Thompson and Davis by now,” Ellen Trawick said, the Post reported.
“We are still demanding to be able to see uncut and unedited body camera footage and we are demanding both officers be fired immediately,” Ellen added, the Post reported.
Denying family members the transparency they deserve about their loved one’s last moments, and then following that up with edited footage to show them in the worst light is profoundly disrespectful and traumatizing. #KawaskiTrawick and his family are owed real accountability. https://t.co/0DVDVXpxV4
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) December 8, 2020
Video shows that Kawaski held a stick and knife when confronted by Davis and Thompson, the Post reported. Thompson tased Kawaski when he refused to drop the knife, but Kawaski became more agitated and yelled at the officers as he made his way to them with the knife and stick.
Thompson shot Kawaski two times as he advanced towards the officers, the Post reported. Kawaski first called 911 because someone was attacking him, then to say he couldn’t get into his apartment, and then to report a fire.
“If you don’t hurry up, we’re going to burn down,” Kawaski said, the Post reported. “The building’s on fire. What do you mean ‘What’s the fire emergency?'” (RELATED: Concerned About Violent Crime, New Yorkers Are Hiring Private Security)
Firefighters arrived before Davis and Thompson, the Post reported. Witnesses told the officers that Kawaki was “acting erratically and threatening people,” according to the Post.
Davis and Thompson then approached Kawaski’s door and told him to put down the stick and knife before tasing him, the Post reported. Kawaski threatened to kill the officers and yelled “get out bitch,” at the pair.
Kawaski died at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital, the Post reported. The body camera footage was approved for release after Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark determined that Thompson would not face charges.
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