Heartbroken Mother Receives Flowers from New York City Council

nly a person with a heart of stone could have remained unmoved at the February 26^th City Council meeting. Timothy Stansbury, Sr. and Phyllis Clayburne were present so that, on behalf of the entire City of New York, the City Council could give them flowers and express its condolences for the death of their 19-year-old son, Timothy Stansbury, Jr. at the hand of white Police Officer Richard Neri.

On January 24 at about 1:30 A.M. Stansbury and two friends were taking a shortcut – one often used by residents of their Bedford-Stuyvesant public housing development – across the roof to attend a party in an adjacent building. When the door to the roof was opened, Neri, who was merely on routine building patrol but had his gun drawn, shot the unarmed Stansbury in the chest. This high school senior who had never been in trouble with the law was rushed to and soon pronounced dead at Woodhull Medical and Health Center.

Speaker Gifford Miller welcomed Timothy Stansbury’s parents and delivered some words of sympathy. He then handed the mike over to Council Member Al Vann, in whose district this tragic killing occurred.

Vann began by saying that the best thing the council can do is to attempt to bring justice – "Justice for this family and for every Black youth who feels that he or she may be next." He went on to say that they want New Yorkers to realize this has been a pattern that sends a message to young African Americans and to police officers who are European American. "We have to do something structurally," Vann stated. "We must set in place a mechanism to deal with those policies that have allowed the belief that Black life is of less value than other lives in the City."

He then brought forward the Stansbury family spokesperson, Council Member and mayoral candidate Charles Barron, who thanked Vann for his fine leadership around this issue and also Speaker Gifford Miller for taking the time to acknowledge the family’s grief. Barron said that more than anything, what the family needs now is everyone’s prayers because no matter what happens, even if they get justice, their loss is the same, and it is a loss to all of us. He ended by giving the slain youth’s mother the flowers and calling for a round of applause for the family’s courage and consistency in their pursuance of justice.

When asked if he would like to say a few words, Mr. Stansbury thanked everyone for their sympathy, love and prayers and stated, "I just want you all to continue to stand by us as we go through this tragedy and try to indict this police officer."

Barely managing to speak through her tears, Timothy Stansbury's mother noted that the Police Commissioner had said the shooting was unjustified. "Now I want to see how he’s going to prevail on this," she continued. "I’m hoping that he sees my tears and feels my broken heart because I can’t get Timothy back. Justice has to be not only for my son, but for everyone else’s son."

At that point Phyllis Clayburne was so overcome by her sorrow she could not continue. The chamber was completely soundless except for the heartrending sobs of this grieving mother. In response, Speaker Miller asked everyone to join in a moment of silent prayer for the family. Soon, Barron led the still weeping mother from the chamber. The Council Members and everyone else present continued to be deeply affected by her valor in the face of such anguish long after she had left the room.