Arif Sayed Faisal should still be alive today. He was shot to death by Cambridge police despite having caused no physical harm to anyone but himself. More than two months have passed and the officers involved have been able to keep their jobs because according to Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang, Faisal’s killing does not qualify as “egregious misconduct.”
Faisal’s family, friends and community are expected to wait several agonizing months – if not years – for an investigation that may even not lead to a trial, let alone a conviction. In the case of Faisal’s murder, our judicial system is designed to provide a layer of protection to killer cops that is never given to victims of police violence or even other murderers.
It’s the norm for police violence to go unpunished, but that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. That’s why the Cambridge community, including longtime residents, workers, students and organizers continue to engage in a series of protests demanding justice from Cambridge leadership and the police department. The protests, led by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, have the same key demands as our petition, which has more than 1,000 signatures:
- Release the names of the officers who murdered Faisal
- Release the unredacted police report of the incident
- Fire all the officers immediately
- Prosecute the officers involved to the full extent of the law
The officers who killed Faisal have demonstrated they are a threat to the community. Thousands of Cambridge residents have a murderer living among them. City officials know the killer’s identity, allow them to walk about freely and continue to pay their salary with tax dollars from the same community being put at risk. There’s also the possibility that these officers have harmed other residents before Faisal, but we have no way of knowing for sure until the names of the officers are released.
A group of organizers met March 21 with the city manager and interim director of the Community Safety Department, Liz Speakman. Despite being aware of the overwhelming community support of the demands listed above and being presented with a physical copy of the petition, city officials showed little interest in discussing the demands.
Instead, they directed the conversation away from the demands by talking about police reform more generally – despite the fact that this specific case is the reason why reform is suddenly being taken more seriously by the city. Systemic changes are necessary, but there will still be instances of misconduct, and how we respond to that misconduct is a vital element of systemic reform that gets ignored far too often.
What does it say about the character of city leadership if an unnecessary fatal police shooting doesn’t always lead to publicizing the identity of the killer and terminating their employment? We’ve repeatedly had our demands waved off due to “the process.” The process is part of the problem. Our demands should be the norm. Huang’s vision of public safety is one where killer cops get a vacation paid for in part by the family and friends of their victims.
Huang has the power to name and fire the officers involved, but has decided to protect the killer instead of the community. He admitted that he’s been advised to just wait until the movement dies out. He also implied that protests are not the way to achieve our goals. Historically, loud and disruptive public protests have won us all of our civil rights that we take for granted today.
At this point even Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui supports releasing the names. She was compelled to speak on the demand only because of the attention protesters have brought to it. With the support of other councillors, the mayor could fire the city manager. The City Council may not be able to release the names of the officers directly, but it is not as powerless as it would like the public to believe.
At 8 a.m. Monday we begin picketing Cambridge City Hall. Sign up for a shift at tinyurl.com/j4fpicket. We’ll be back until city officials meet the community’s demands. Let’s prove our movement can’t be waited out.
Matthew Kennedy, Somerville
The writer is an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
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They are ignoring you because they know you actually do not have “overwhelming public support” for your demands.
@ Matthew Kennedy,
Not only, as cport88 said, is there not “overwhelming public support” for your demands, but your Party for Socialism and Liberation, as I’ve read your history, hasn’t contributed anything sensible to enhance the
public weal.
it is my understanding that Faisal refused to de-escalate after being shot with a non-fatal round and then charged at the officer with a machete. Only then was the fatal round issued. We do not have a “murderer” walking among us. We have a police officer who responded to a fatal threat who is likely traumatized by having to have reacted the way he did. There is no reason why we can’t offer the officer grace and understanding AND make sure all officers are properly trained to respond to mental health crises so this doesn’t happen again to the next Faisal and their family. I’m also concerned about the “racism” charge being thrown about. Just because Faisal was a minority does not automatically mean that the officer was racist. The outcome would likely have been the same regardless of the race/ethnicity of the victim.
@akcg
Finally, someone who makes sense of the Faisal incident. Really, good to see.
As you said, no matter what some people say,
“we do not have a “murderer” walking among us.”
And in this city, to have racism thrown into most situations, is just lamentable. However, we live in Cambridge and it seems that everything is looked at through the lens of the color of a person’s skin. How sad. The Reverend Dr. King thought it should be otherwise.
My heart aches for the Faisal family. Please stop using this terrible incident to further your anti-police crusade, it belittles their loss.
Cambridge police acted as best they could in an awful scenario. We are lucky to have them and I thank them for their professionalism.
@RadioFreeMatt
Unfortunately, there are too many people in Cambridge who, no matter what the situation, will continue on an anti-police crusade. Of course they will want the police there when they are in trouble. What hypocrisy.
If the Police Commissioner is the chief keeper of the peace & safety in Cambridge, a requirement within his/her resume; reflexes an expertise of high degrees, why has budget and security equipment expenditures needs transferred to City Councilors and/or City Manager’s approval only? If the Commissioner is the expert for policing in Cambridge what was originally requested as readiness for such regretful occasion(s) which accidently took a life?
Let’s talk about facts. There hasn’t been a serious police shooting since 2003 in Cambridge. These officers receive hours of training in dealing with social issues. This was a horrible tragedy, but there is no presence of police malfeasance.