Mentally ill Latino man brutally beaten by six NYPD officers

MAKE THE ROAD NEW YORK: Press Advisory

For Immediate Release:
April 13, 2009

Contact: Oona Chatterjee, 347-268-1892

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The mother and younger sisters of a mentally ill, Latino man brutally beaten by six NYPD officers will announce plans to file a lawsuit against the City.

Gamalier Reyes is hospitalized with multiple fractures to bones in his face and other injuries.

Over 50 community members, wielding haunting photos of Reyes' badly beaten face will gather in front of the NYPD's 83rd precinct tomorrow to protest his brutal beating by six NYPD officers. Reyes suffered broken bones in his face and remains hospitalized. No criminal charges were filed against him.

Reyes, 26, is schizophrenic and was in crisis early Saturday. His family contacted his social worker, who called for EMT support. Eight NYPD officers responded. While two officers prevented the family from intervening, the others closed themselves inside the apartment with Reyes. His younger sister, 17, was in the apartment with the officers, hearing him crying "stop hitting me!" as he was hit and kicked severely.

Reyes was taken to Woodhull Hospital. A doctor said he is likely to require at least two facial reconstruction surgeries. He also suffered injuries to his skull and abdomen.

Reyes' family will sue the NYPD and press charges against the officers involved. Two of Reyes's sisters are members of Make the Road New York (MRNY). MRNY joins the organization Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities in demanding that Brooklyn Borough Chief Gerard Nelson and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly institute a new system that deploys well-trained personnel to respond to mental health crisis calls.

Reyes's beating is the second incidence in recent months of severe brutality by Brooklyn NYPD officers against a person in mental health crisis following the September death of Bedford-Stuyvesant man Iman Morales, who was shot with a taser by police.

WHERE: 83rd Precinct, Knickerbocker Avenue and Bleecker Street, Brooklyn

WHEN: 11am, TOMORROW, April 14th

Eye witness testimonies by family and neighbors and photos of Reyes's injuries available.

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