On September 29, 2019, Antonio Williams was standing on the street, waiting for a taxi, when plainclothes officers jumped out of an unmarked car. NYPD officers chased, tackled, and beat Antonio. Shortly after, they recklessly opened fire, killing Williams and an NYPD officer, Brian Mulkeen, in a reckless hail of 15 bullets – some shot from over 60 feet away. For almost two years, NYPD provided no explanation for why officers chased Williams in the middle of the night and have never articulated the reasonable suspicion required to stop Antonio.
After the Williams family demanded they be able to view an NYPD-produced video before it was publicly released, the NYPD promised the Williams family they would delay public release so that all interested members of the Williams family could view the footage. Late Thursday, December 12, 2019, the Williams family was informed that the City and NYPD would no longer honor their promise and would proceed with releasing the video on Friday, December 13, 2019, even though not all members of the Williams family, including his mother Chanel McCray, were able to travel to NYC to view the footage with this last-minute change.
In November 2020, security footage supporting the family’s statements that the NYPD engaged in an unconstitutional stop and unnecessarily escalated the interaction was released. The Williams family sued the City of New York and the NYPD; they continue to work to demand full transparency and the firing of all officers involved.
On September 22, the Civilian Complaint Review Board told the Williams family they would open an investigation into the officers responsible for stopping, brutalizing, and killing Antonio.
Help uplift the demands of the Williams Family:
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Demand that the Mayor and the NYPD fire Sgt. Jason Valentino, and Officers Brian Mahon, Keith Figueroa, and Robert Wichers.
