Why did a cop kill an unarmed Black man? 1 year later the community still seeks answers. | Opinion – NJ.com
By Ande Richards
On a gray and rainy New Years’ day, the family of Carl Dorsey, the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), Newark Communities for Accountable Policing, and friends and family of the Rodwell Spivey brothers marched and gave speeches demanding further investigation into the police killing of Carl Dorsey.
The People’s Organization for Progress starts the New Year in the struggle for justice in front of the Seated Lincoln Memorial statue outside the Essex County Courthouse in Newark on January 1, 2022.Ande Richards |NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Dorsey was shot and killed by undercover Newark police officer Rod Simpkins on the evening of Jan. 1, 2021, interrupting an unprecedented year of no shots fired in the city of Newark.
Police showed up at Woodlawn Avenue and South 11th Street after hearing gunfire, local officials and police reports say.
The officers involved wore no body cameras. However, video from the camera of a nearby building revealed Dorsey was unarmed.
Shortly after the shooting, the community erupted in protests demanding an investigation by the attorney general’s office into the unprovoked incident.
Activists and members of Carl Dorsey’s family stand in solidarity on the anniversary of his murder outside the Essex County Courthouse in Newark on January 1, 2022. The family still has no answer from the attorney general as to why Dorsey, who was unarmed, was fatally shot by plainclothes officer Rod Simpkins.Ande Richards |NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Simpkins, the officer who fatally shot Dorsey, was once the subject of a 2009 lawsuit filed by a Newark coach and the parents of two children. The ACLU included the suit in New Jersey’s petition to the U.S. Department of Justice that called for an investigation into the Newark Police Department, which eventually led to the city’s current consent decree.
Court records show Dorsey pleaded guilty more than a decade ago to two separate robberies, in 1998 and 2004, but his friend Tiffany Huggup said he moved on from that period in his life.
She said he had a hard life and did some things in the past, but he had turned his life around before the time of the shooting last year. Dorsey became a truck driver because he wanted to do better for himself and his children.
Baba Zayid Muhammad of Newark Communities for Accountable Policing said this case is more proof that the power to check police conduct must be in the hands of the people with civilian oversight and subpoena power.
He went on to say that Gov. Phil Murphy must veto New Jersey Senate Bill 3939, which allows law enforcement officers to review body-worn camera recordings prior to creating an initial report.
Dorsey’s family and friends listened to the speakers and thanked the crowd for their support. Pain wore on their faces and echoed in their voices as they remembered their loved one on the anniversary of his death.
Members of Carl Dorsey’s family prepare to march in Newark on the anniversary of their loved one’s death on January 1, 2022.Ande Richards |NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
POP’s Lawrence Hamm called on the U.S. Attorney General Rachael Honig to lead a civil rights investigation into the death of Carl Dorsey and said that POP would stay the course with the Dorsey family as things progressed.
Ande Richards is new to New Jersey. She wants to hear from New Jersey’s communities of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ communities, and those who feel underserved by traditional media. She may be reached at arichards@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Instagram @angelcitygirl or Twitter @anderichards.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Here’s how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.