Outraged members of North Bronx Racial Justice were joined by students from Manhattan College outside the NYPD’s 50th Precinct on Kingsbridge Avenue in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx on Feb. 7, to protest the brutal beating by five Memphis police officers, of Tyre Nichols, 29, a Black man, on Jan. 7, following a traffic stop.

Nichols died three days after the beating by the officers, who were also Black. The incident was captured on camera and shared with the world, drawing comparisons with the May 2020 murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd, 46, by since convicted, White, former police officer, Derek Chauvin, while Floyd was in police custody.

Earlier on Feb. 7, it had been reported that off-duty, NYPD Officer Adeed Fayaz, 26, had succumbed to his injuries following a robbery attempt in Brooklyn during which Fayaz was shot in the head. He had been looking to purchase a car when the incident unfolded.

Earlier still on the same day, some media outlets reported that an unidentified, 22-year-old, rookie police officer reportedly attempted to take his own life in The Bronx. Police confirmed a person had been shot in the head at the 47th Precinct, located at Laconia Avenue in Wakefield, but declined to provide further details.

Some media outlets reported a person was discovered inside the locker room of the 47th Precinct. Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg acknowledged during a press conference later that day that an officer had been shot at the 47^th Precinct, but declined to provide further details.

Back in Kingsbridge, demonstrator, James White, the former leader of the Riverdale Ethical Culture Society, said of his attendance at the rally, “I’m here today out of anguish and anger because repeatedly, young, Black men are being mowed down by police and it happens actually very frequently.”

White continued, “There has to be outrage and fundamental changes made so that cops are not put into these situations.” A former mental health lawyer, White continued, “One of my chief concerns is that cops not be brought into situations where people are mentally distressed, because they have no idea how to deal with that, and they generally agree that they’re not trained to do that.”

When told about the death of the police officer in Brooklyn and the wounding of the second officer in The Bronx, earlier that day, White was asked if the group had considered postponing the gathering to another day. He replied, “No. I’m sorry for the guy… we worked very hard to find a day that everyone involved could do.”

Manhattan College student, Melony Estrella, attended with a handful of fellow Manhattan College students. Asked why they were protesting the 50th Precinct when Nichols died hundreds of miles away in Memphis, she responded, “We’re protesting against the system and what it represents.”

Asked if she supported defunding the police, Estrella said, “I support the reallocation of resources to go back to the community and the community having more of a say in what measures that are actually taken to help us.”

Asked if she was for the abolishment of the NYPD, Estrella added, “Um, no. Obviously there needs to be a system in place to help the people, but not work against them.”

According to the website, mappingpoliceviolence.org, in 2022, 1,232 people were killed by police officers in the United States. Meanwhile, between 2013 and 2022, the breakdown of police killings per one million people during this period was as follows: 90 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 68 Black, 39 Native American, 31 Hispanic, 23 White and 8 Asian. The states in which such killings were most concentrated, per head of population, were Wyoming and New Mexico.

Meanwhile, according to data from the Officer Down Memorial Page, during 2022, 234 police officers died in the U.S. in the line of duty, including 15 in New York State. The average age of the police officers was 45, and the average length of service was 15 years and one month.

Under the watchful eyes of a half a dozen officers outside the 50^th Precinct station house, protesters peacefully chanted, “No justice! No peace! No Racist Police!” and “Justice for Tyre Nichols!”

If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, please call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or text 741741.

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the racial breakdown of police killings as being solely during 2022. In fact, the racial breakdown of police killings are the numbers per one million people in the United States between 2013 and 2022. We apologize for this error.  

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.