A call for justice for Najee Seabrooks
Demonstrators rally for fallen Paterson, N.J. activist Najee Seabrooks during a peaceful rally and protest at Paterson City hall and Paterson Police station. Seabrooks was gunned down by Paterson police after they answered a call for an emotionally disturbed person during the five hour stand-off on March 3. (©Brian Branch-Price/Thefotodesk)
He worked to prevent violence in his Paterson community. Then his life ended with a violent police killing.
PATERSON, NJ—On Tuesday night, March 7, hundreds of citizens gathered to mourn and protest in outrage the killing of yet another Black man, 31-year-old, Najee Seabrooks, by two Paterson Police officers, while Seabrooks was experiencing a mental health crisis.
In provocative irony, Seabrooks worked as a high-risk violence interventionist with the Paterson Healing Collective to assist Paterson community members, mainly young people, experiencing a crisis.
“Najee, who had a strong passion for the city and a deep commitment to improving it, joined our team and we were so thrilled to have him as an asset,” Dr. Liza Chowdhury, Project Director of the Paterson Healing collective, said in a statement.
Demonstrators rally for fallen Paterson, N.J. activist Najee Seabrooks during a peaceful rally and protest at Paterson City hall and Paterson Police station. Seabrooks was gunned down by Paterson police after they answered a call for an emotionally disturbed person during the five hour stand-off on March 3. (©Brian Branch-Price/Thefotodesk)
According to a recent report, Dying at Intersections: Police-Involved Killings of Black People with Mental Illness, "Programs that have been most effective in reducing violence and fatality in responding to mental health crises largely remove police involvement." The report delves into these encounters and offers recommendations to address the repeated killings at the hands of police of Black people in mental health crises.
Tuesday’s vigil, "Rally for Justice", organized by Black Lives Matter Paterson and Paterson Healing collective, assembled at the Paterson Healing Collective offices. Marchers walked through the town to the Paterson City Hall and the Paterson Police Department. Speakers at both locations called out the horrific killing of Seabrooks and demanded accountability for his death.
"This senseless and tragic event amplifies the need for expanded mental health resources and intervention programs in our surrounding communities to support individuals in crisis," said Kevin J. Slavin, President and CEO of St. Joseph's Health.
According to the New Jersey State Attorney General’s office, on March 3, the Paterson Police Department responded to a 911 call of an individual in distress, later identified as Najee Seabrooks, who had barricaded himself inside the bathroom of his home. The office states that the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) and the Emergency Response Team (ERT) also joined the scene and used less lethal force. The statement then says that two ERT members, Officer Anzore Tsay and Officer Jose Hernandez, discharged their weapons, killing Seabrooks.
Paterson Police Department’s Public Safety Director Gerald Speziale is yet to respond to Public Square’s request for information on the shooting.
For many, the case is one in a long line of "toxic" policing, which Mayor Sayegh promised to address when he took office in 2018. The de-escalation task force the Mayor introduced in December 2021 has yet to go anywhere.
Paterson residents, friends, and organizers remember Seabrooks as brother Na, a mentor, role model, leader, and pillar in the community. Those who didn't know him personally said his reputation preceded him, and for those who did, said he gave a sense of hope to the community.
"What Michael Jordan is to us, what Obama is to a lot of people, he was that hero for these kids, and he gave them hope," said Kay Crandon, a Paterson resident who knew Seabrooks.
To these residents, justice for Seabrooks looks like answers for his family, ensuring an incident like this never happens again, and prosecution of the officers to the fullest extent of the law. At the rally, they called for the release of the police body camera footage and the name of the officers involved in the shooting, which were later released by the Attorney General’s office. That office’s investigation remains ongoing.
In a petition signed by over 5000 people, Black Lives Matter Paterson is demanding three key changes:
The establishment of a community-controlled Civilian Complaint Review Board
The ending of Qualified Immunity
An autonomous and fully-funded Crisis Assistance Team
"We have an opportunity to implement a real Civil Complaint Review Board with subpoena power like the one in Newark," said Dr. Chowdhury, in a statement to Public Square..
In addition, the Paterson Healing Collective is calling for the immediate resignation of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Paterson Public Safety Director Gerald Speziale, and Lieutenant Spagnola.
“It’s disheartening to see his family did call for help to try to diffuse the situation because it looked like Najee, it looked like he was going through some mental problems and things of that nature,” said 15-year-old, Nai’iyma Davis, a Paterson resident. “This is not the first time that Black people have gotten shot down by the police for calling for help, because who can you call when you need help?”