Saheed Vassell’s Dad Ejected From Attorney General's Office Plaza

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The father of Saheed Vassell, the bipolar man shot dead by four police officers in 2018, was ejected from a city plaza Wednesday when he tried to tell the press about his meeting with Attorney General Tish James.

Three 28 Liberty Avenue security guards escorted Eric Vassell, activists and press off the plaza shortly after his 45-minute meeting with James to discuss possible charges against the officers who shot his son.

"It's a private plaza," said a 28 Liberty Security Guard who pointed toward Pine Street. "Press conference has to be held down there."

A spokesperson from the Attorney General's confirmed their office played no role in asking the group to leave the plaza and only learned about the incident after it had happened. Rules posted outside the plaza forbid public gatherings or groups of more than 25 people.

The guards stood watch as Vassell informed reporters that the Attorney General promised to announce her decision, on whether or not to indict the four police officers who fatally shot his son, before the one year the one-year anniversary of Saheed’s death.

Former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his office would investigate Vassell's death one day after the police-involved shooting drew hundreds of protesters into the streets of Crown Heights.

"I am not confident in the indictment," Vassell said. "My son was bipolar and I can see how they are treated ... in our community, where there are black and brown, they always kill."

Vassell has spent the past year advocating for greater police transparency, pleading with the city to release unedited video of the shooting and filed a $25 million lawsuit against the NYPD and New York City in June.

Activists from the NAACP and the Brooklyn Movement Center joined Vassell in his meeting with the Attorney General and, at the following press conference, demanded Mayor Bill de Blasio communicate with the family and the public.

"There hasn't been any further conversation with the NYPD or with the Mayor's Office on this issue," said L. Joy Williams of the Brooklyn NAACP. "We're still going to need to go to the NYPD and to the Mayor and make sure that there are disciplinary charges.

"Because we know that when officers kill or cause other harm once, they will often do it again."

"The mayor has spoken a lot on this case on justice and transparency but we haven't had any idea of what the mayor thinks that looks like," added BMC representative Anthonine Pierre.

"None of the police who are involved in this have been put on modified duty. They're still walking the same streets where they killed Saheed."