Family of Man Killed By Police in South Jersey Tells Al Sharpton to Stay Out of It

Reverend Al Sharpton with Esaw Garner, widow of Eric Garner, at a protest in the Staten Island neighborhood where Eric Garner died while in police custody. Photo: Thomas Good via Wikimedia Commons.

As tensions mount over the December 30th shooting of 36-year-old Jerame Reid by police in Bridgeton, New Jersey, Reid’s family is saying thanks but no thanks to Reverend Al Sharpton.

On Thursday, Sharpton’s group, National Action Network, released a statement demanding action by New Jersey’s attorney general, as opposed to having the case handled by local investigators. Here is Sharpton’s statement in full:

National Action Network (NAN) supports calls for the State Attorney General to investigate the case of Jerame C. Reid. The 36-year-old New Jersey man was shot to death while his hands were up by two Bridgeton, N.J. officers on December 30, 2014. NAN is demanding a thorough investigation in this case and the officers involved. We maintain our position that local officials should not handle incidents such as this.

Our Atlantic City, NJ chapter President, Steve Young has been involved in this case and will [sic] NAN will continue to monitor developments.

And now Reid’s widow, Lawanda Reid, has released her own statement via the New Jersey-based National Awareness Alliance:

I would like to thank Rev. Sharpton for his support and for his demand that the New Jersey Attorney General get involved in my husband’s death. However, Walter Hudson and the National Awareness Alliance have been involved before this case received national attention and I want National Awareness Alliance to continue to be the official organization fighting for justice for my husband and family. Reverend Sharpton’s involvement is not needed.

According to a press release issued by NAA, “Sharpton… had been unusually silent on the matter and did not participate in any of the early protests until the story began to make national headlines.”

“We’ve protested, we’ve marched, and we’ve rallied,” NAA chairman Walter Hudson* tells Philadelphia magazine. “And we’re going to keep organizing and keep the pressure on the issue to get a fair and impartial investigation.”

Hudson says the next rally is scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the site where Jerame Reid was killed.

The shooting was captured on video by a police dashboard camera, and it appears to show Reid being shot as he exits a vehicle with his hands up, after one of the officers said he saw a gun in the car’s glove compartment and warned Reid not to reach for it. The case has garnered national attention.

*Editor’s note: Based on a phone conversation on Friday, this story originally identified Walter Hudson as Lawanda Reid’s attorney. Reached again on Saturday afternoon, Hudson, who is not an attorney, clarified that he had misspoken during the earlier interview.