Kawaski Trawick

Kawaski Trawick was cooking dinner in his Bronx apartment when NYPD officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis rammed through his door. When Kawaski asked why they were in his house, they tased him and shot him 4 times, all within 2 minutes. They then shut the door as their victim bled out on the floor. When asked if anyone was injured, they responded “Nobody, just a perp.”

Trawick, a 32-year-old gay man, was a personal trainer, dancer and aerobics teacher who struggled with mental health issues. For almost 5 years his family demanded answers from the NYPD and the city. In response they were met with delays and obstruction. The full video wasn’t released until a year and a half after the shooting; the state upheld the shooting; the NYPD stonewalled so long that the statute of limitations for disciplinary hearings had expired. They demanded of both DeBlasio and Adams that both policemen be fired.

Two days before the fifth anniversary of Kawaski’s death, PD Commissioner Caban determined that the actions of the cops who shot Trawick to death of “didn’t rise to the level of a crime.”  Shortly after Caban’s decision was made public, Kawaski’s parents Ellen and Rickie Trawick released a statement: “Thompson and Davis broke into my son’s home and murdered him within seconds, without even attempting to administer aid. They should have already been fired, but Mayor Adams and the NYPD don’t seem to care about protecting New Yorkers from cops who kill.” Thompson remains on the force; Davis retired in March 2024

This is all part of the regular workings of the NYPD. We demand the personnel and incident files of Thompson and Davis be released and that all police archives be open to the working class.