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Balloons, signs, candles and posters adorned the statues lining the Firefighter’s Memorial Park in downtown Syracuse on Saturday as Rebirth SYR, a local activist group, staged a rally.

Dozens of community members gathered at the park to remember Breonna Taylor and Judson Albahm. Plainclothes police officers fatally shot Taylor, a 26-year old EMT, in March 2020 while serving a no-knock warrant in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment, sparking nationwide protests against police brutality. The officers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Albahm, a 17-year old, was shot and killed by police officers on March 4 in Jamesville, about 15 minutes from Syracuse. The incident began as a mental health crisis and ended with police shooting Albahm after he allegedly pulled out a fake gun.

A year after Taylor’s death, activists are still calling for justice to be served. Just as Taylor’s boyfriend recently continued his legal battle against the officers involved in her death, those committed to the cause maintain their solidarity at the grassroots level.

Judson Albahm, 17, was fatally shot by police on March 4. Richard Perrins | Asst. Copy Editor

“In all actuality, I am Breonna Taylor. I’m out here every day,” said Kayla Johnson, a speaker at the rally.

H. Bernard Alex, of Victory Temple Fellowship Church, said that people struggling with mental illness hold a burden that society is not prepared or willing to help with, which contributed to Albahm’s death.

“About police reform it is, but it is also about raising the consciousness of a community of how we as a community care for those that are in a struggle that we don’t see,” Alex said.

The educational system should have done more to help Albahm overcome his struggles in life, said Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, director of the central New York chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union. The loss of Taylor and Albahm is so devastating because they are part of a long line of people who have died at the hands of police brutality, he said.

“There’s a statue right here of a mother and a baby,” Abdul-Qadir said, referring to statues in the park. “Not only is Judson’s mother not going to get to experience that anymore, Breonna Taylor’s mother isn’t going to get to experience that. Breonna Taylor won’t get to experience the joy of motherhood.”

Those who attended the rally called for justice for both Taylor and Albahm. After Albahm’s death, Rebirth SYR began a campaign to march for 40 days to honor him and seek justice. Saturday was day three.

“This is proof that law enforcement nationwide needs to be reimagined and transformed,” said Hasahn Bloodworth, cofounder of Rebirth SYR.

Twiggy Billue, president of the Syracuse chapter of the National Action Network, agreed that law enforcement in the city needs a dramatic overhaul. She mentioned the People’s Agenda for Policing, which demands the reallocation of resources toward different community groups that are already on the ground and working to address inequality. 

“We won’t sit idly by and watch governmental entities keep deciding what’s best in our neighborhood when it’s really detrimental. We will act up and act out,” Billue said. 

The agenda, which was proudly displayed at the rally, includes demands for updating the Syracuse Police Department’s use of force policy, giving the Citizen Review Board the right to discipline officers and requiring all officers to wear and use body cameras. Changes are needed to make mental health a priority, especially when it comes to cases such as Albahm’s, Billue said.

“Mental health concerns get thrown out the window,” Billue said. “It turns into fear of a person that has called for help because they don’t know where else to call.”

Abdul-Qadir urged the crowd to contact their elected officials in favor of Daniel’s Law, a proposed piece of legislation for New York state named after Daniel Prude, who was killed by Rochester police while experiencing a mental health crisis. The law would allow professional mental health units, rather than armed police officers, to respond to relevant emergencies.

Activists must never give up the fight, or else another name will soon join the long list of victims of police brutality, Billue said.

“We have to stop making what’s abnormal the normal in our lives,” she said.

Published on March 13, 2021 at 10:40 pm

Contact Richard: rcperrin@syr.edu | @richardperrins2