A rally was held Monday night a year after a New Jersey man was shot to death by two police officers.
Protesters marched to the courthouse in Bridgeton, New Jersey, in memory of Jerame Reid. Reid's brother Sean Reid, activists, and local residents took part in Monday's protest.
"We still don't get sleep," Sean Reid said. "There are days I don't come outside. Days I don't eat."
The protesters chanted Reid's name as well as the name of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Cleveland boy who was shot by a police officer in Cleveland in November, 2014 while carrying a pellet gun. A prosecutor announced that a grand jury had declined to indict the two officers involved in his death.
Jerame Reid, 36, was fatally shot in December 2014 with his hands up after defying police orders not to exit a stopped vehicle in Bridgeton. The grand jury decided not to indict the officers involved, Braheme Days and Roger Worley.
The Cumberland County prosecutor's office said it was giving "the factual circumstances of the incident" in a Thursday news release about the grand jury's decision. Conrad Benedetto, the attorney for Reid’s family, claimed the prosecutor’s office left out details like the officers' statements and autopsy reports however.
While the prosecutor noted Reid's criminal history, he did not point out aspects of the officers' past, including that one of the officers involved had left law enforcement positions after investigations into his own conduct, Benedetto said.
Days and Worley have been the subjects of a handful of complaints alleging abuses of power over the past two years, but all the complaints were dismissed.
First assistant prosecutor Harold Shapiro declined to comment on Benedetto's statements.
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
Reid's shooting gained further attention after a police dashboard camera showed details of their encounter.
Police, with the camera in their cruiser rolling, pulled a Jaguar over for running a stop sign. Things turned tense when one of the officers warned his partner he could see a gun in the glove compartment.
Screaming "Don't you f---ing move!" and "Show me your hands!" at Reid, who was in the passenger seat, the officer reached into the car and appeared to remove a silver handgun.
Then Reid, despite being warned repeatedly not to move, stepped out of the Jaguar, his hands raised about shoulder level.
The officers opened fire, killing him. Both officers were placed on leave while prosecutors investigated.
Reid spent about 13 years in prison for shooting at three state troopers when he was a teenager. Days recognized his name because he was among the arresting officers in August 2014 when Reid was charged with several crimes, including drug possession and obstruction.
Reid's widow, Lawanda, filed a $1 million federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the city of condoning excessive force by its officers. She also reached a tentative settlement with the county for $340,000 for abuse Jerame Reid had earlier said he suffered in prison.
