Tuesday, September 8, 2020. New York City – On Friday, September 4, 2020, Daniel Prude’s family and protesters demanded the resignation of Rochester Police Department Chief La’Ron Singletary and Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren.
Today, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced at a City Council meeting that Rochester Police Department Chief La’Ron Singletary would be retiring after 34 years on the force. City Council President Loretta C. Scott said Singletary would stay on until September 28, 2020.
Deputy Chiefs Joe Morabito and Mark Simmons also retired, vacating the three leadership positions for the department.
By filing his retirement papers, the RPD Chief and the other officers will be able to draw on their pension and health benefits. La’Ron Singletary, Joe Morabito and Mark Simmons did not lose anything.
On Thursday, September 3, 2020, I covered a rally in Times Square to demand justice for Daniel T. Prude. Daniel was a 41-year-old Black man killed by police officers in Rochester, New York, in March of this year.
Click the link for more info and photos: https://www.javiersoriano.com/2020/09/03/justice-for-daniel-prude/
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black American man, was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Daniel was killed by officers before George Floyd was killed. For 5 months, RPD Chief La’Ron Singletary and Mayor Warren did not say anything about officers killing Daniel. La’Ron Singletary and Lovely Warren are Black but that did not save Daniel Prude. New York state Attorney General Letitia James knew about officers killed Daniel Prude since mid-April, but she also did not say anything. Lovely Warren and Letitia James (a Black woman) are Democrats.
We know Rochester officers killed Daniel Prude because of the video that was obtained by Prude’s family through a public records request. Attorneys representing Daniel’s family released it to the public on Wednesday, September 2, 2020.
Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins and Green Party vice presidential candidate Angela Walker support a community control of the police.
“Community control means elected neighborhood review boards with real investigative and policy-making powers in their communities and a citywide elected police commission to set citywide police department policies and determine disciplinary sanctions for police misconduct. The Panther’s program was designed to give oppressed communities control of their police departments in order to hold police officers accountable for misconduct and to institute a culture and policies for policing so that police departments serve and protect communities instead of abusing them.” Click here to read more.
Free the People Roc, an activist group that has been working with Daniel Prude’s family, said on Facebook on Monday, September 7, 2020: “Last night was a beautiful showing of love and solidarity. It’s clear proof that the violence committed by the Rochester Police Department over the past week was voluntary and unnecessary. Nothing changed about our planning or tactics. The only thing that changed was the police response.
Our movement continues–in spite of our grief, our trauma, and our exhaustion–until our demands are met. Lovely Warren and La’Ron Singletary are gaslighting the public and denying responsibility for their roles in Daniel Prude’s murder.
Warren and Singletary must resign. The officers involved in Prude’s killing must be fired and prosecuted. And the Rochester Police Department must be stopped from responding to mental health calls and defunded.
Until those demands are met, we will continue to march.”
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020, Free the People Roc said on Facebook, “Mayor Lovely Warren seems to think that she does not have to resign. But what she doesn’t realize is that the people won’t stop until she does.Since she is taking a while to submit her resignation letter, we have drafted a template for her along with the people’s summons. #Resign #justicefordanielprude”
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020, Free the People Roc said on Facebook, “We accept Police Chief La’Ron Singletary’s resignation and the resignations of the entire RPD Command Team. Our movement for justice is winning, and it’s because of this incredible community, showing up night after night.
Let’s keep the pressure up until all those responsible for Daniel Prude’s murder and cover up—including Mayor Lovely Warren—have resigned, taken responsibility, and donated their pensions to the families they allowed to be harmed. Together we have the ability to hold those in power accountable and bring an end to systemic police violence in our community.”
Protesters want Mayor Warren to fire officers Mark Vaughn, Troy Talladay, Francisco Santiago, Josiah Harris, Andrew Specksgoor and Sergeant Michael Magri.
“At our budget hearing about two months ago, the community had been asking — after the killing of George Floyd — to cut the police budget, and the mayor and police chief all made statements to the effect of, ‘We don’t have these kind of problems here. We’re ahead of the curve, we’re not Minneapolis,’ all the while knowing that this had happened. It was shocking to the community to find out that it had been kept secret for so long and to really not have the mayor or police chief give adequate answers as to why,” said Rochester City Council member Mary Lupien.
The Seneca tribe of Native Americans lived in and around Rochester until Europeans stole their land. This is a reminder that we live on stolen land.
Share this post on social networks. Click here to become my Patreon. You can also “LIKE” my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, follow me on Instagram, follow me on Pinterest, follow me on Flickr and subscribe to my Youtube channel. You can contact me directly by filling out this form.
Comparte este artículo en las redes sociales. Oprime aquí para ser mi Patreon. También puedes darle “me gusta” a mi página en Facebook, seguirme en Twitter, sigueme en Instagram, sigueme en Pinterest, sigueme en Flickr y subscríbete a mi canal de Youtube. Puedes ponerte en contacto conmigo directamente llenando esta forma.