The parents of Kawaski Trawick, the gay black man shot to death by police in his Bronx home in 2019, said they found out through media reports that the officers responsible for his death would not be punished.
The shocking revelation came at a Monday afternoon rally in which advocates and elected officials railed against Police Commissioner Edward Caban’s decision, announced on April 12, that neither Officer Brendan Thompson nor Herbert Davis would be punished because, in the department’s view, they acted within the law.
In a statement provided by Ellen and Rickie Trawick, Kawaski’s mother and father, on Monday, the parents said they received no advanced notice from the NYPD or the Adams administration about Caban’s decision, which they felt added insult to injury.
“[Mayor Eric] Adams didn’t even let my family know of this decision before making it public and this is the height of disrespect,” part of the statement read. “Thompson and Davis broke into my son’s home and murdered him within seconds without even attempting to administer aid.”
Bronx Council Member Pierina Sanchez likewise declared that she had not informed about Caban’s decision before it was released.
“We usually get a call. We get a heads up and we get told ‘Hey listen, I know you’re not going to like this but here’s the news.’ I got nothing,” Sanchez said. “Friday was a night of shame.”
Trawick was living in supportive housing and had apparently been locked out of his room on April 14, 2019. Yet when police arrived, he had regained access and was cooking with a knife in hand and became agitated when the cops tried to enter his home, ending in the deadly shooting.
Caban’s decision to clear the cops of wrongdoing came just days shy of the fifth anniversary of Trawick’s death, and a month after Queens officers fatally shot 19-year-old Win Rozario during a mental health crisis. It’s alleged that Rozario brandished a pair of scissors and charged at officers twice, leading him to be Tased before eventually being shot.
The decision gave little hope from Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and others that any accountability would be forthcoming in Rozario’s death.
“I’m not very often lost for words, but I’m pretty exasperated,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said. “I’m wondering if we should just apologize to Rozario family as well. Based on the history of this administration, I don’t have much faith that anything’s gonna happen with that.”
