Peekskill NAACP Schedules Rally For Justice

PEEKSKILL, NY — The Peekskill NAACP invites the public to a Rally for Justice August 31 at the Peekskill Presbyterian Church. The rally will focus on prison reform and the case of Samuel Harrell. Harrell, an inmate at the Fishkill Correctional Facility, died after an altercation with prison guards in 2015.

The Peekskill NAACP is committed to raising awareness about the Harrell case.

The date of the Rally for Justice is set for the day participants in a statewide March for Justice will get to Peekskill. The march will go from NYC to Albany. It is organized by the Alliance of Families for Justice and its purpose is to bring attention to human rights abuses in New York State prisons.

The Peekskill NAACP and the Peekskill Area Pastor’s Association are sponsoring the marchers’ visit to the city.

“The Peekskill NAACP is outraged that no one has been held accountable in the 2015 murder of Samuel Harrell by corrections officers at the Fishkill Correctional Facility," said Sam North, Chair of the Criminal Justice Committee of the Peekskill NAACP. "Recently, the U.S. Attorney's office and Putnam County District Attorney both refused to prosecute those responsible for Harrell's death even though it was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner. How can we call it a justice system when a human life can be taken with no consequences or accountability for those responsible? Therefore, we Rally for Justice in partnership with the Peekskill Area Pastor’s Association and the Alliance of Families for Justice to fight for the Harrell family and other families like theirs.”

Samuel Harrell’s sister, Cerissa, will be a speaker at the rally along with members of the Alliance of Families for Justice, the Peekskill NAACP and Peekskill Area Pastors’ Association.

WHAT: Rally For Justice

WHEN: 6: 30 p.m. Aug. 31

WHERE: Peekskill Presbyterian Church, 705 South St., Peekskill, NY