Statement from Ramarley Graham's Mother, Constance Malcolm, Re: Commissioner O’Neill Claiming He Plans to Meet with Her & Mayor de Blasio Stating That He Would Meet with Her

“The mayor and police commissioner know how to reach me, so I don't know why I keep having to learn of things in the press instead of them reaching out directly to me. Through their actions, it seems that the Mayor and Commissioner are more concerned with how they look in the media, instead of directly dealing with the concerns I have as a mother whose son was killed by their NYPD over 5 years ago.  I’m open to meeting with them, but each day I haven't heard from them and learn of developments through the press it seems more and more like they’re playing political games. O’Neill had already agreed to meet with me before any decision in Haste’s case, which he did not follow through on, and de Blasio’s rationale for refusing to meet with me for over a year is inconsistent with his own actions.

“Mayor de Blasio’s hypocrisy and cherry-picking when he's going to follow principles should be appalling to all New Yorkers. His claims of not meeting with parties involved in a NYPD disciplinary process weren't true of tennis celebrity James Blake, who he brought into City Hall the day after a disciplinary process had been publicly announced into the officer who assaulted him. His claim of ‘equal justice’ also didn’t stop Commissioner O’Neill and Bratton from meeting with Haste in September to encourage him to resign with his pension. That contradicts City Hall’s claims that they aggressively pushed for Haste’s firing when the whole time they were trying to convince him to resign, delaying his departmental trial for nearly a year and putting my family through an unnecessarily extended process while they tried to sweep my son Ramarley under the rug. In fact, it's been over 5 years and the departmental trials of Sergeant Scott Morris and Officer John McLoughlin have still not been scheduled, and I still can't get basic information related to other officers who were involved in abusing my family, leaking false information to press and other misconduct.

“Mayor de Blasio should stop trying to speak for me because I can speak for myself – this isn’t just about tragedy, it’s about the truth and police misconduct that de Blasio seems to have no interest in pursuing. Training without accountability will never bring change – Delrawn Small, Deborah Danner, and Ariel Galarza losing their lives and the dozens of New Yorkers who have been brutalized even after the ‘retraining’ de Blasio brags about was implemented are clear proof.”

###