RALEIGH, NC – The family of Darryl Williams, the man who died in the custody of the Raleigh Police Department, released a list of demands for the police on Tuesday morning, days after his death sparked controversy in the community.
Williams’ mother, Sonya Williams, and other community activists attended the press conference to condemn the handling of the arrest.
Kerwin Pittman, a social activist in the city of Raleigh, began the press conference by requesting a moment of silence in honor of Darryl Williams. Pittman said the family deserves more answers than those in the five-day report.
“Darryl Williams must not be dead,” he said. “Their first meeting with Mr. Williams was unwarranted and unjustifiable.”
Pittman said his feelings are due to the fact that RPD was never called to the scene. Rather, the officers did something the department calls “proactive patrolling.”
“‘Proactive patrolling’ is nothing but racial profiling of the marginalized communities,” Pittman said. “It’s finding an excuse when there’s no excuse to hold back minorities in minority communities.”
Davelle Madden spoke on behalf of Sonya Williams.
“A piece of our heart has been taken from us,” she said. “What’s going on in our community is a real testament to why we’re all gathered here today. And we just want answers. We want answers as to why this happened to Darryl.”
Madden said Darryl’s mom hasn’t been able to sleep since her son’s death.
Dawn Blagrove, attorney and executive director of Emancipate NC, elaborated on the demands, calling the police’s five-day report “propaganda” and questioning the police’s methods of “preventive policing.”
Blagrove referred to the report as saying officers were conducting a drug search, but then said in another paragraph that officers were taking “pre-emptive policing.”
The death of Darryl Williams
The incident happened outside a competition parlor on Rock Quarry Road last week.
The other big takeaway from the report is that he can be heard on body camera footage screaming that he had a heart condition.
In their press release, the family stated that Williams’ death was “unfounded and unjustifiable” after he expressed his heart problems.
According to police, no shots were fired.
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said six officers were involved in the incident. The officers are on administrative leave, which is standard procedure when there is a shooting or death in custody by an officer.
The six officers involved are on administrative leave.
