Police Break Up DJ Henry Gathering at Grand Central

About 50 of DJ Henry's friends and supporters gathered at Grand Central Terminal in midtown New York City yesterday to recognize the slain student and commemorate the official release date of the Kanye West/Jay-Z album Watch the Throne.

In one of the new album's songs, "Murder to Excellence," .

Henry, 20, was shot and killed by Pleasantville Police Officer Aaron Hess at the Thornwood Shopping Center.

Aria Smith, a friend of Henry's, said supporters—including Henry's two younger siblings, Amber and Kyle—convened at approximately 5:45 p.m. carrying gold balloons (the color of the album), with the song's lyrics written on them.

"We were there for about 40 minutes. The police saw us, the National Guard saw us, and it was not an issue," she explained. "But when we started walking, they said we were interrupting the flow of traffic and called for backup."

Smith said Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) police told the crowd—some of whom were were shirts displaying Henry's football number (12) and buttons bearing his picture—"we were alerting the public and making people nervous."

"It seemed like excuse after excuse just because they didn't want us there," she said. "Then they took flashlights out and took out their personal cell phones and started filming us for 'evidence.'"

As the police intervened, more people began to stop in the area to watch. She added at one point, some officers put on gloves and took out pepper spray and handcuffs.

Smith said she continually asked police what the boundaries were to allow for a peaceful gathering.

"They didn't have an answer for that," she said. "We eventually decided we would release the balloons outside."

As the group dispersed and prepared to take trains home back to Westchester (Henry's siblings took a bus down for the gathering from Boston), Smith said an MTA lieutenant approached her and apologized for the officers' behavior.

"He just kept apologizing," she said. "He said, 'If I had known, I wouldn't have let them react that way.' He said he heard about DJ and thought it was awful."

Agreed Smith, "For [the police] to act that way was so inappropriate. It was completely just blown out of proportion. It's just really sad."

The MTA did not immediately return messages for comment.