Justice for John Collado: Press Conference and March Friday 11/13 in NYC
November 12, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
We received the following press release from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network in NYC:
For Immediate Release
Joshua Lopez 917-545-6022
Steve Yip 929-249-7996
Justice for John Collado: Family Members Remember 2011 Police Shooting of Grandfather
John Collado
WHAT: Press Conference & March to 1 Police Plaza
WHERE: City Hall Steps
WHEN: Friday November 13th at 10:00 am
WHO: Family of John Collado, Stop Mass Incarceration Network, New Yorkers Against Bratton
November 13th, 2015 (New York, NY) – The family of John Collado, a father and grandfather, shot to death by police outside of his Inwood apartment four years ago, is outraged over the fact that his killer is being honored with yet another departmental award this year. James Connolly, the police officer who murdered John Collado, is being bestowed a new award this Friday at 1 Police Plaza.
The family plans a protest and a march on 1PP.
On September 6th, 2011, Collado intervened when he came upon a fight between a friend and another man who turned out to be plainclothes narcotics detective. Police said Collado was choking the officer when he was fatally shot. Witnesses say Collado never had the cop in a chokehold. In 2012, a grand jury refused to indict the cop.
Connolly was given the NYPD's 2nd highest award, the Police Combat Cross, this past June by police commissioner Bratton and mayor de Blasio.
Just this year more information about Connolly was finally made public -- including the fact that he had killed another man just two years prior. Transparency around what happened to Collado has always been disputed by the family. A relative of Collado's, a nurse, had tried to reach him as he lay dying but was tackled to the ground by other police officers.
By awarding cops who shoot civilians, a clear message is continually being sent to cops. It is open season on unarmed, particularly Black and Latino, civilians; and you can be assured you won’t be punished when you kill, but, in fact, awarded. As filmmaker Quentin Tarantino said when he spoke at the #RiseUpOctober demonstration against police killings of unarmed civilians, “I have to call the murderers the murderers.”
Said Joshua Lopez, nephew of John Collado, who has been in the forefront of the Collado family struggle for justice, "It's been a struggle. My uncle had faith in the system. But not only has he been murdered, they lied about him and said he choked the cop -- which he didn't. It's a burden on our shoulders. It's been hard on my aunt, who has been forced to raise a 6-year old son by herself. It's heartbreaking to hear a 6-year old asking 'why did the police kill my father?' I want justice for my family. Police killings must stop."
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