NYPD clears Brooklyn officer of using racial slur at vigil for man shot dead by police

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn housing cop was cleared of NYPD disciplinary charges that he used a racial slur when he stated at a vigil for a man fatally shot by police that he “would have shot” the man himself.

A Police Department trial judge found Officer Jamarr Burnett not guilty of making the comment overheard by Motique Graves, whose brother Malik Tyquarn Graves, 33, died in a fusillade of police bullets when he allegedly pointed a gun at a group of officers on June 2, 2020.

The judge in the case said that while there was evidence the comment was made, there was no clear evidence Burnett made it.

The NYPD trial judge’s not guilty verdict was approved in October by Police Commissioner Edward Caban, and only recently became public. The case against Burnett was brought by the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Malik Tyquarn Graves, 33, was killed June 2, 2020, by police in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Graves’ sister, Motique Graves, testified that she heard Burnett say “I would have shot that little n—– myself” on June 4, 2020, two days after her brother died.

The heartbroken sister testified at the One Police Plaza trial room that the ugly comment she heard at an outdoor vigil by the Van Dyke Houses on Blake Avenue in Brownsville led her and her friend to wonder aloud why the cops couldn’t let them mourn in peace.

“Ms. Graves was upset at the comment, turned back to the officer, and said ‘Excuse me?'” according to NYPD departmental trial papers. “Somebody came and pulled her away, and a higher-ranking officer came and removed (Burnett) from the scene.”

Graves’ cousin Shauntay Watkins was walking behind her and testified at the departmental trial that she also heard the comment.

Watkins reported the statement to the CCRB, which investigated and charged Burnett with using offensive language. Investigators also charged Burnett with making an untruthful statement when, while being questioned seven months later about the exchange, he said he didn’t recall the incident.

The two women never got Burnett’s name or shield number when they heard the comment. The CCRB charged Burnett based on their descriptions, which were backed by New York City Housing Authority surveillance camera footage.

The offensive comment was made two days after Malik Graves was gunned down by police during a tense standoff on Rochester Avenue and Dean Street in Crown Heights just outside the Kingsborough Houses.

Malik Graves had just shot and wounded another man when police arrived, cops said. During a confrontation, officers ordered him to drop his gun.

Graves ignored the instruction and raised his pistol at the officers as if he was going to fire, then-NYPD Chief of Department Terrence Monahan told reporters at the time.

“He had a gun in his hand. They saw it,” Monahan said. “The officers gave orders for the male to drop the weapon. We hear the officers for over a minute — ‘He’s moving his hands, he’s getting up. He’s gonna go. He’s gonna go. Please drop the gun! Please drop the gun!’”

Roughly 10 cops were at the scene. Officers fired 62 shots and hit Graves a dozen times, killing him.

Relatives called the amount of force used to stop Graves “overkill.”

Both Motique Graves and her cousin testified at the departmental trial and identified Burnett as the cop who said the derogatory statement.

But NYPD Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Trials Jeff Adler, the judge in the case, determined the two women pinned the comment on the wrong cop, according to his findings filed with the department on May 5.

While the surveillance footage showed the two women confronting a group of officers around the time of the vigil, there was no audio, so it was unclear at the trial what was said.

The footage also disproved some of the statements made by Graves and her cousin, who identified another cop in the video clip — not Burnett — as the officer who made the statements.

“At issue is not so much whether an offensive comment was directed at Ms. Graves by one of the officers, but rather, whether the credible evidence has proven that (Burnett) was, in fact, the officer who actually made the remark,” Adler said.

“Although Ms. Graves identified (Burnett) in court as the officer who made the offending comment, I was not persuaded as to her reliability as a witness.”

Officer Burnett, who is Black, “came across as earnest as he insisted that he would not use the word ‘n—–’ as alleged here,” Adler said.

Burnett, a 10-year NYPD veteran, testified that he didn’t remember the interaction, records show. He noted he worked 12-hour tours for a 13-day stretch during that time, at the height of the 2020 George Floyd protests in the city.

The officer also stated that “as an African American male he would not use the word ‘n—–’” and that his dad, a former police officer with the NYPD, taught him better than that,” Adler said.

Additionally, records show, Burnett claimed he didn’t recall anything about Malik’s death — even though he was the neighborhood coordination officer for Public Service Area 2, the police command for the public housing area where the shooting occurred.

CCRB Executive Director Jonathan Darche disputed Adler’s findings, noting that Burnett never denied making the slur.

“This case is another example of why the NYPD should not have final disciplinary authority,” Darche said. “There is video of Officer Burnett at the event interacting with the civilians in question. The civilians unwaveringly identified Officer Burnett as the officer responsible.”

Darche also questioned Burnett’s testimony.

“Despite this taking place outside a memorial for a man who was killed by NYPD officers two days prior, Officer Burnett claimed he had no recollection of the entire event,” Darche said. “He never denied saying the phrase, yet that was enough for NYPD to disregard the allegations.”

Emails and calls to Burnett and his attorney John Tynan were not immediately returned.

When reached by phone, Motique Graves declined to comment on Adler’s decision. The Graves family has an ongoing wrongful death suit against the NYPD and the city in Brooklyn Federal Court.

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