Members of the Hartford-based Self-Defense Brigade gathered in the state’s capital on Wednesday to voice their concerns about two recent police-involved shootings involving mental health incidents.
A handful of advocates gathered at the intersection of Main Street and Atheneum Square North on Wednesday to speak out against the two deaths involving the Hartford Police Department.
“The plan was to block the street and cut off the economy here and make an economic statement,” said protest organizer and Hartford advocate Cornell Lewis.
Lewis claimed that those plans were thwarted by the inclement weather earlier in the morning, which kept many of the protestors home and he said there were plan to reschedule. There also were people there who are not city residents.
Hartford resident Carl Adams and Dexter Burke, archbishop of Walk In The Light Church of God in Hartford, all said they would like to see accountability for the deaths of Steven Jones and Everard Walker.
Walker, 53, was shot and killed on Feb. 19 in his Capitol Avenue apartment after his family called 211 for help when he ran out of his medication.
Police body camera footage released by the Connecticut Office of Inspector General Inspector showed Walker brandishing a knife and raised the blade toward a policeman who had fallen over during a scuffle in the apartment involving Walker and his family members.
Officer Alexander Clifford fired multiple shots at Walker, who was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead. The Hartford Police Department placed Clifford on administrative leave while the incident remains under investigation by the Office of Inspector General.
Jones, 55, was shot shortly after 11 a.m. on Feb. 27 as officers responded to Blue Hills Avenue on the report of a suicidal man holding a knife, according to the preliminary report from the Office of Inspector General.
Officer Josue Charles, who was first to arrive at the scene, deployed a Taser, which was not effective. Two addition officers, Officer James Prignano and Officer Jackeline Torres arrived at the scene. All three officers had created a circle around Jones and were asking him multiple times to drop the knife.
Police body camera footage then shows Officer Joseph Magnano arriving at the scene. Within 40 second of his arrival, he had approached Jones, asking him multiple times to drop the knife and warning that he would shoot him.
Prignano appears to motion with his hand for Magnano to ease his demands toward Jones, who then starts walking toward Magnano, the footage shows.
“You’re gonna get shot,” Magnano tells Jones, the footage shows. “Drop the knife.”
“Last time, drop the knife,” Magnano shouts as he was backed up into the Blue Hills Avenue and Euclid Street intersection. He then fired nine shots at Jones, who immediately collapses to the ground.
Torres provided medical attention to Jones before he was rushed to Saint Francis Hospital where he was pronounced dead on Tuesday, according to Inspector General Eliot Prescott.
Hartford resident Carl Adams was among the protesters on Wednesday morning in Hartford voicing his concerns over the recent fatal shootings involving police in Hartford. (Sean Krofssik/Hartford Courant)
The officers who were involved were placed on paid administrative leave as an investigation by the Inspector General continues, according to Hartford Police Department.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam released a video on Facebook on Tuesday night after learning about Jones’ death.
“I come to you as Mayor and a member of this community.” Arulampalam said. “As a member of this community, I cannot tell you the anguish that I’ve felt in the last four days. It has been an incredible loss for all of our community and especially the family of Mr. Jones. I got to meet Mr. Jones’ sister a couple of days ago and for her and her family, I cannot measure the level of loss they are feeling right now. My heart is with them and goes out to them.”
Arulampalam added that the city holds its officers to the highest level of conduct and noted that there will be two independent investigations. One will be conducted by the Connecticut Office of Inspector General and the other by the Hartford Inspector General, which will be reviewed by the city’s civilian police board.
“In addition to that, we will conduct an internal investigation through Hartford Police. Our residents deserve transparency and accountability. As Mayor, I will use my voice and my position to insure you get that.” Arulampalam said.
On Wednesday, Burke said distrust for the Hartford Police Department has “escalated among Hartford residents.”
“At a minimum, we’re calling for the termination of police officers involved in these shootings,” Burke said. “We’re asking the residents of Hartford to rise up against this madness. Both shootings could have been prevented. Mental illness shouldn’t be a death sentence. If these two individuals were in mental institutions, there is no way these two would have been shot.
“We’re going to set a precedent if we allow this to happen, for police officers to show up and kill anybody. We can’t have that,” Burke said. “Those two men should be alive today and getting the appropriate treatment that would help their medical condition.”