BOSTON (WHDH) - Hundreds of people rallied outside Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office Tuesday, demanding she re-open the cases of black men killed by police in Boston and prosecute the officers.
The mothers of three men shot and killed by Boston police — Burrell Ramsey-White, Usaamah Rahim, and Terrence Coleman — called for their cases to be re-opened.
“If I had known they were going to kill my son I would have never called 911,” Coleman said through tears.
She called the paramedics to her home back in 2016 to take her son, who had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, to the hospital.
Prosecutors said he attacked EMTs with a knife but Coleman said her son was not armed.
Police shot and killed him at his home.
“You cannot use a gun on a mental health patient. they have to be more attentive to the situation instead of using gun,” Coleman said.
All three mothers whose sons died in police confrontations called on Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins to reopen their cases and prosecute the officers involved.
The officers in these three cases were not held responsible.
“You have a job to do,” said Brock Satter of Mass Action Against Brutality at the rally. “We demand Rachael Rollins re-open the cases of these three families in particular.”
They are also calling for an end to qualified immunity for police which protects officers from lawsuits.
“I am hoping that they will revamp that and throw it out and that each police officer is responsible for what they do,” Rahim said.
After the rally, protesters marched down Tremont Street to the South End.
This call for justice follows weeks of demonstrations worldwide for George Floyd.
These mothers said that they hoped this was the catalyst for change.
“Everybody is awake now people seem to have been sleeping and not seeing what was happening to other people,” Rahim said
DA Rollins released a statement later in the evening reading in part:
“Although the specific investigations that have been raised by the protesters today appear to involve deaths all occurring under prior administrations, I am committed to discussing these cases with DIT. If any new information or evidence is available, I ask that it be directed to my office.
Rollins took office in 2019 and created the nation’s first Discharge Integrity Team.
The four-person team meets with her monthly to review these specific types of cases.
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