The Birth of a Coalition

A bus full of activists!! The success of our organizing ;) for the 2nd Year Anniversary Vigil for Kenny Lazo, April 10th, 2010.

The last few months I have been busy building and co-organizing with Jennifer Gonzalez (Kenny's son's mother), the ANSWER Coalition and the October 22nd Coalition the Justice for Kenny Coalition, which is a new coalition that connects Police Brutality with Immigrant Rights. We have had some very successful events. On April 3rd, we had our very first event at the Brecht Forum where we featured several key speakers including: Jennifer Gonzalez (partner of the late Kenny Lazo), Juanita Young (mother of the late Malcolm Ferguson), William Bell (father of the late Sean Bell), Nicholas Heyward (father of the late Nicholas Heyward, Jr.), Allene Person (mother of the late Timor Person), Kathie Cheng of Oct 22 Coalition, Monica Ruiz of ANSWER Coalition, Pierre Yurovski of Amnesty International, and Frances Villar 2009 PSL Mayoral Candidate for NYC. We showed, Police Terror: The Police Murder of Kenny Lazo, a documentary short by ANSWER's Eddie Pages, Forced Trajectory: Images from the After Effects of the Police Murder of Kenny Lazo, a photographic essay by me, and we also featured ANSWER's Kenneth Chan Cruz' artwork. After the film, slideshow, and speakers, MC Majesty hosted the spoken word / hip hop portion of the event, featuring Spirit Child, Peggy Robles Alvarado, Raul K Rios, and Fifth Column's BadSportt. The night ended with us fundraising over $500, enough for us to rent a bus to go from the city to Bay Shore, Long Island for Kenny's 2nd year anniversary vigil held right outside the Suffolk County 3rd Precinct where he was left to die on April 12, 2008. Our event was covered by NY1, who stayed for nearly 70% of the event, and played repeatedly on NY1 headlines all Easter Sunday. :)

William Bell, father of the late Sean Bell, sits, listening to the speaker. Kerbie Joseph of the ANSWER Coalition and PSL sits in front of him.

Brian Benitez, Kenny Lazo's cousin, speaks out in public for the first time about Kenny's murder.

Hip hop artist, Majesty, performs.

Jennifer Gonzalez, Kenny Lazo's partner, speaks about her experience after Kenny's abrupt death, April 12th, 2008.

The following week, we used our funds to rent a school bus and took 20-some activists with us from the city to Bay Shore, where we demanded justice for Kenny Lazo in front of the 3rd Precinct of the Suffolk County Police Department. The purpose of this was to connect NYC with Bay Shore so that the people of Bay Shore could literally witness our solidarity. There, we met with several of Kenny's friends and family members, including Kenny's mother, Patricia Gonzalez, and Kenny's father, Elfonzo Lazo who both traveled from out of state for the event. The event was held from 1PM-5PM, but the energy of the crowd was so powerful that we decided to stay until 6PM. As traffic passed, we received several car beeps in support of our cause. Several activists and artists spoke on the mic, condemning the obvious corruption of the Suffolk County police, and also police brutality on a national and international level. Speakers included: UK MC LowKey, MC Majesty, MC Eva Egypt, PSL's Frances Villar, March Forward!'s Edward Pages, ANSWER's Vanessa Frida, Kenny's partner, Jennifer Gonzalez, Rebel Diaz Art Collective's Marcel Cartier, Kenny's parents Patricia Gonzalez & Elfonzo Lazo, myself, and others. This event marked the 2nd year anniversary of Kenny's death.

Both events were later mentioned in PSL's Liberation newspaper which is distributed nationwide. Click here to read the article.

Kenny's father, Elfonso speaks on the mic, Patricia Gonzalez, Kenny's mother on the right.

MC Majesty on the mic, who enthusiastically hosted the April 3rd event.

MC Eva Egypt on the mic condemning the SCPD.

UK MC LowKey spittin' rhymes about police brutality.

We Are Kenny Lazo (1983-2008)

Kenny was brutally murdered by five racist Suffolk County cops nearly two years ago. Tomorrow, Kenny's family and supporters will be demanding justice outside the 3rd precinct where he was killed. The following is a post by the mother of his son, Jennifer Gonzalez:

Murdered BY FIVE 3rd PRECINCT OFFICERS!

Please help us Fight for Justice and Put an End to Police Brutality!
1650 5th Ave, Bay Shore ( Long Island )
Wednesday, December 30th, 6-7:30pm.

The Murder of Kenny Lazo: Details of the Case

Kenny Lazo, 1983-2008, beaten to death while in police custody

On the night of April 12, 2008 Kenny Lazo fell victim to a ruthless and malicious crime. Kenny’s life was taken by those who are sworn to protect and serve: the Suffolk County 3rd Precinct Police Dept.
Kenny Lazo was pulled over by 3rd precinct officers, John Newton, James Scimone, William Judge, Christopher Talt and Joseph Link. Police have failed to explain why Kenny was pulled over.
While the cops claim that Kenny tried to elbow one of the cops and, more unbelievably, that he tried to get a gun, what we know for sure is that Kenny was handcuffed, forced down on the ground, beaten and choked with flashlights. He suffered from blunt impact to the head, face, torso, arms, with multiple abrasions, contusions and lacerations of the face and scalp. He went into cardiac arrest. He was then brought to the 3rd precinct with NO medical attention.
As Kenny was taking his last breath lying on the precinct floor, an eyewitness heard the officers involved in beating him joking and proudly demonstrating in the front lobby how they did it. An hour after being brought to the 3rd precinct, police decided to finally call for an EMT. Emergency assistance found Kenny lying DEAD on the floor wearing nothing but his underwear.
The Suffolk County coroner ruled Kenny’s death as a HOMICIDE as a result of his injuries at the hands of our own police department.
Kenny was a loving father to his beautiful son, a good son to his parents, a loving and supporting partner to his girlfriend, a hard and committed worker and a solid contributor to our community.
Though the FIVE OFFICERS were left off the hook, our fight for justice will not stop. We must come together as a community and put an end to this criminal behavior by the Suffolk police.
In the name of justice and what is right, we must unite as a community and demand that the DA take this case seriously and that charges be brought against the five police officers. Police brutality hurts all of us! You never know if you or your family member could be next!

Protest at the 3rd Precinct! Demand the D.A. charge the killer cops with murder!

Links: http://www.mylitv.com/view_video.php?viewkey=34362ac261db280128c2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIuQgemjWk0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAtFdjTdbdk