Syracuse police brutality protest demands local leaders take accountability

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Local residents marched in protest of police brutality on Monday afternoon to demand justice for the two teenagers who were shot by an Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Approximately 20 protesters marched from Butternut Street in Syracuse’s Northside to State Street in Downtown Syracuse, making stops at City Hall, the office of the New York State Attorney General, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office and the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.

“Today, we are holding a rally to demand accountability be held to Syracuse police and the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department and also the Justice Center Jail,” said Yvonne Griffin, a member of the central New York chapter of Citizen Action of New York.

Griffin led the protest effort to put pressure on Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick and New York State Attorney General Letitia James following the death of the two teens, Dhal Apet and Lueth Mo, who were killed on Sept. 6.

Onondaga Sheriff’s Office deputy John Rosello shot the two teens in an early morning encounter. Rosello was responding to a report of suspicious activity near Midler Meadows Mobile Home Park in DeWitt. He did not have his body camera on at the time; video footage of the encounter was taken and released from a neighbor’s security camera down the street.

Rosello shot at the car that the two teens and one other person occupied as it drove away from the scene. The sheriff’s office has said Rosello shot after the car attempted to run him over. The video footage shows Rosello parking to block in one vehicle while the other escaped. The two cars had been stolen from Syracuse and were involved in burglarizing two local smoke shops.

Griffin said Rosello’s actions strayed from police training. The deputy should have shot the car’s tires first and should never have approached the passenger side of the vehicle, she said.

The protesters met on Butternut Street by Nepali Church, where the group laid out posters with pictures and descriptions of people SPD or the County Sheriff’s Office have killed since 2002. The posters honored Alex Rivera, Matao Herrera, Allison Lakie, Errick Guerrero, Chuniece Patterson, Sahlah Ridgeway and Raul Pinet Jr., as well as Apet and Mo.

The protesters met on Butternut Street by Nepali Church, where the group laid out posters with pictures and descriptions of people the Syracuse Police Department or the County Sheriff’s Office have killed since 2002. .

Cassandra Roshu | Photo Editor

SPD officers killed 8 people from 2013 to 2021, according to Police Scorecard.

Protesters also waved flags with the phrases “Black Lives Matter,” “Stop racism” and “Stop killing Black people” as they marched along streets. Many cars passing by honked or raised their fists in support.

The group began their march around 3:30 p.m. despite an impending rainstorm. Participants marched in the streets, ushered between two cars driven by other protesters.

Their chants called for justice, an end to racist policing and for people to “say their names” as they listed the names of those who died from police brutality in the city.

The protesters managed to stop traffic down several streets, which was met with both support and frustration. One civilian on the street helped stop traffic as protesters marched underneath Interstate Highway 81 while other drivers gave the protesters the middle finger.

Ajak Apet, Dhal Apet’s older sister, said she hopes the protest will help “wake people up” to the reality of the police brutality in Syracuse. Ajak Apet graduated from Syracuse University in 2023 and is now pursuing a master’s degree at the university’s School of Education.

“I hope to accomplish more support (and) bring people and let them really know what’s going on because not enough people are awake,” Ajak Apet said.

Ajak Apet said she hopes to increase attendance to their protests in the future.

The same group of protesters has held two previous protests in response to the deaths of Apet and Mo. On Thursday, the group of more than 5o protesters were met by police wearing riot gear. None of the officers would make eye contact or engage in conversation with the protesters, said JT Hines, a Syracuse resident.

“Actions speak a whole lot louder than words,” Hines said. “They’re trying to preserve themselves after doing what they did instead of just taking accountability or even just having a conversation.”

On Monday, the group was met with covered windows at the various State Street offices. In response, protesters held up the posters to the windows and doors while continuing chants and waving flags.

Hindes said that he was shocked by the “mental gymnastics” people have been doing on various news and social media platforms to justify the teens’ deaths. He found self-defense arguments or arguments that claimed the boys were criminals or lacking parental guidance “crazy.”

“​​If those kids were in jail right now, that wouldn’t be a conversation. Right now, those kids are dead. The fact that a lot of people are trying to justify it makes me upset,” Hines said. “A lot of people are trying to convict the parents instead of holding the police accountable. It makes me upset.”