Pictured is Jerame C. Reid, 36, of Bridgeton – the man who was fatally shot by Bridgeton police officers Tuesday, December 30, 2014, at the intersection of Henry Street and South Avenue, following a motor vehicle stop.
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Benedetto says while the Cumberland County prosecutor’s news release said it gave factual circumstances of the incident, it omitted the officers’ statements and autopsy results.
A five-minute, 15-second video showed Days with gun drawn, repeatedly telling Reid, in the passenger seat, to show his hands and not to move. Reid reportedly disregarded Days order not to move and got out of the vehicle with his hands raised at shoulder height when he’s shot several times.
Another officer, Roger Worley, also fired his gun.
It’s very sad, but Reid has now officially joined a growing list of “unarmed” men who have been killed in officer-involved shootings because they couldn’t follow simple instructions, and who let their contempt for law enforcement officers drive them to commit what is arguably “suicide by cop”.
Hudson said his group, National Awareness Alliance, will demand an investigation of the case with the United States Department Of Justice Civil Rights Division.
Jarame Reid was an ex-con with a history of armed violence towards police, and was known by both New Jersey police officers who encountered him as a passenger in a December, 2014 traffic stop. For others, the conclusion that Worley and Days feared for their own lives, and could have been killed by the suspect if they’d not acted first, will be seen as reasonable. Days shouts, at one point addressing Reid by his first name.
Days and Worley have been the subjects of a handful of complaints alleging abuses of power over the past two years, but all the complaints were dismissed. “If you reach for something, you’re going to be f-ing dead”. On Wednesday, the jurors declined to indict the officers.
Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae recused herself early in the investigation, saying in March she personally knew Days outside of work. “Officers must make split-second decisions routinely and unfortunately, at times, those decisions can be fatal”, he said in a statement.
“I’m disgusted”, Lawanda Reid told NJ.com on Thursday.
“We are disappointed but not surprised” by the decision not to indict the officers, said Walter Hudson, the advocacy group’s chairman and founder.
The shooting was investigated by the county’s prosecutor’s office and the New Jersey State Police crime scene unit.
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Reid’s widow, Lawanda, filed a $1 million federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the city of condoning excessive force by its officers.
