‘You do not respect our Black lives:’ New Rochelle residents enraged over police shooting of Jarrell Garris

Residents gave emotional and, at times, tense comments at New Rochelle City Council’s meeting Tuesday following the death of a 37-year-old New Rochelle native, who was shot by police on July 3.

Jarrell Garris died Monday after being in the hospital for a week following a police encounter in which he was accused of stealing fruit at New Rochelle Farms on Lincoln Avenue. His family said the shooting stemmed from him eating grapes and a banana in the grocery store.

At Tuesday’s meeting in City Hall, members of Garris’ family stood in the front row, just below steps where all six council members and city staff sat. The family wore black shirts with a picture of Garris on the front. On the back, the shirts read “Justice for Jarrel #wemustcee2it,” a reference to Garris’ nickname, CeeTwo. Dozens of friends and community members sat behind them.

“We’ve gotten what appears to be a veneer of transparency,” William O. Wagstaff III, the Garris family attorney, said outside City Hall after the meeting. “What true transparency means is releasing all video, all information, and they haven’t done it.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office announced it was launching an investigation into the shooting, as mandated by state law whenever a police or peace officer may have cause a person's death. Through Wagstaff, Garris’ family confirmed his death. Wagstaff said they’ve been in touch with James’ office.

Garris family demands full bodycam video New Rochelle police shot man over fruit, family alleges. They want full video, witnesses

Family, supporters keep pushing for release of full video

The New Rochelle Police Department has released some bodycam footage of the events leading to police Det. Steven Conn shooting Garris, though the video cuts short before the shooting happens. A police spokesperson said the video omits the moment of the shooting out of respect for the family.

In the video, Conn says Garris has a gun during the scuffle, but it’s unclear what Garris was reaching for as he appears to topple over.

In addition to his family, civil rights organizations have called for the full release of the video.

“(The police) are not the judge and jury and executioner," Aisha Cook, the acting president of the NAACP New Rochelle Branch, said in the Citizens to be Heard portion — or public comment segment — of the City Council's meeting. “Jarrell deserved to have his rights upheld.”

Charlene Nixon said she was driving on Lincoln Avenue on the afternoon of July 3 when police shot Garris in front of her car. Her own son has experienced mental health issues, too, she recalled. Garris' family said he had struggled with mental health issues, including schizophrenia.

“I had to figure out how to get away,” Nixon told the council. “I did not know what was going to happen, and if it was going to happen to me.”

'Just another example of systemic racism'

The incident began on July 3 at New Rochelle Farms, where police responded to reports of someone stealing food. The shooting occurred around 4:30 p.m., just down the street, outside of St. Catherine A.M.E. Zion Church, in a historically Black neighborhood known as the Lincoln Avenue corridor.

At Tuesday's meeting, Black residents complained of treatment at the grocery store, as well as high food prices there. They complained of displacement in New Rochelle, a city that appears to have new skyscrapers being built throughout downtown, often in historically Black neighborhoods upended by decades of urban renewal projects.

“This is just another example of systemic racism that’s not only in New Rochelle, not only in New York City … but it’s throughout this country,” said the Rev. James E. Booker Jr., the pastor of Mount Carmel A.M.E. Church in New Rochelle. “Let us not forget our history.”

“You do not respect our Black lives,” Sharon Footes, 44, who lives near where the shooting happened, told the City Council.

“I’m telling you organize,” she later said to attendees. “Do not continue to be in this reactionary space of yelling and screaming. Shut it down. New Rochelle is and always will be for us. And if you do not want to share the space, the space that all of you continue to live in will be (expletive) uncomfortable.”

Citizens to be Heard, where residents aired their grievances, is city council's segment where officials sit and only listen to residents. It occurs after the council's regular meeting earlier in the day.

Just before the meeting adjourned after about two hours, Mayor Noam Bramson gave a brief address. Later, a city spokesperson said officials welcomed the attorney general’s oversight.

“I think it is important for me to acknowledge the pain that is in this room,” Bramson said, through boos and jeers, “to acknowledge that this has been a trauma for our entire community. And especially to acknowledge that the greatest trauma, the most personal trauma, that the heaviest burden is borne by the family of Jarrell Garris.”

In the meantime, the Rev. Jamel Hollis planned to continue sitting on his chair with an ice cooler outside of the New Rochelle Farms. He has frequently posted his videos on Facebook Live, in the summer heat and rainfall.

The grocery store has been shuttered since Friday, when Garris’ family held a press conference and residents demonstrated in the intersection outside of the storefront.

“It is obvious that that day he was having an episode,” Hollis said of Garris. “I think it’s important to know that when you own a store in a community, and you have the community patronize your business, there should be some know-how and empathy in how you treat everybody in the community.”

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: New Rochelle residents enraged over Jarrell Garris’ killing by police