Police Commissioner Bill Bratton during news conference
During a news conference Monday, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton made it very clear to New Yorkers on the best way to avoid confrontations with New York’s finest: “The best way to not get shot by a New York City police officer is not carry a gun and not raise that gun toward them,”
Bratton, along with other top NYC brass, was responding to a series of questions regarding recent shootings by the police of unarmed New Yorkers. His comment, however, came when asked about the George Tillman shooting.
Tillman was shot 11 times April 17 when he brandished a gun while running from the police.
“I’m sorry, that individual was carrying a gun, raised that gun and was shot,” Bratton said in defense of the officer’s actions.
Many of the urban communities criticized the Police Commissioner’s statement, calling it biased.
“That’s fine for him to say when most of the people getting shot by the police are men of color,” said one Harlem resident. “And half of them getting shot are unarmed.”
