Protesters in Syracuse are calling for the police officers involved in an incident of alleged brutality last week, to be suspended. A video, seen thousands of times on social media, shows officers pulling Shaolin Moore, 23, out of a car, pinning him to the ground, and punching him in the face. Moore, who is black, was stopped for playing loud music. Ashley Delee, a relative of Moore, who was among a large protest at Syracuse City Hall Wednesday night, said she was emotional when she watched the video.
“My soul jumped out my body,” Delee said. “I was just like, oh my god, that’s my nephew. I was calling all my siblings. I didn’t know what to do. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it.”
Yaschia Kinsey was one of the organizers of the protest and encouraged people to sign a petition having the officers involved, suspended without pay. Kinsey said black and brown people are racially profiled every day. She is passionate about the issue, she said, because one day, it could happen to her 12-year-old nephew.
“And police, like the ones that did that to Shaolin, will pull him over and drag him out of the car," Kinsey said. "And he doesn’t have to say anything. He’s been told by his mother and father what to do. But that doesn’t prevent the cops from doing what they normally do.”
Protest organizers said they have spoken to Syracuse Police Chief Kent Buckner, who told them they should hear the results of an investigation this week.
In a statement, Syracuse Common Council President Helen Hudson said the force used by the officers in the incident was excessive and will not continue to be tolerated. She questioned why a simple loud music stop, led to such a disastrous outcome.
