“We Got One!”—“Cooler Killer” Cop Jailed

NYPD sergeant Erik Duran left the courtroom in custody on April 9, heading to Rikers Island to start a prison sentence of three to nine years. This is the first time in decades that an NYC cop has gotten jail time for police brutality. The last one convicted, for killing Akai Gurley in 2014, got off with probation.

The “Cooler Killer” cop was convicted of manslaughter on February 6 for killing Eric Duprey in August 2023 by throwing a 40-pound ice chest at Duprey’s head. “He deserved the maximum,” said Duprey’s partner Orlyanis “Pearl” Velez, also stating, “He’s in jail. I’m happy. I can sleep now.”

“We got one!” declared Hawk Newsome of Black Lives Matter Greater NY, which, along with the Open Police Archives NYC Committee, initiated a series of united-front protests at each court date. It took protests to get Duran charged. It took protests to get the case tried despite the prosecution’s delays. It took protests and filling the courtroom to get a guilty verdict. And it took protests to make sure the cop went to prison.

The cops know well that this is a victory for all working-class, black and brown New Yorkers. The head of the police sergeants’ “union” fumed that a cop doing jail time sends “a very chilling message to every cop in the nation.” Good! From day one, the NYPD mobilized in force to support Duran and intimidate the Duprey family. Dozens of cops filled the courtroom and hallway at early court hearings, while the Duprey family and their allies had just one row of seats. But by sentencing, Duprey family supporters occupied over half the courtroom. Now we need to make sure Duran rots in jail—the cops are trying to get him out while he appeals the conviction!

Duran should have gotten the maximum 15 years! The light sentence just shows we can’t rely on the prosecutors and courts for justice. Even in rare cases where our united power forces the system to do something good, it drags its feet and always pulls up short of the finish line. No illusions in “progressive” politicians! An OPA sign on April 9 read, “New mayor, same old racist cop terror—Drop all charges against Jabez Chakraborty!” Zohran Mamdani’s cops shot up Jabez in January, for which Mamdani praised the NYPD because they “keep our communities safe.”

It’s urgently necessary to rebuild the movement to fight racist cop terror. Speakers at the April 9 rally included Samy Feliz, brother of Allan Feliz who was killed by Bronx cops in 2019. We remember Eric Garner, Delrawn Small, Win Rozario, Eudes Pierre, Jason “Poppy” Phillips, Saniyah Cheatham! We demand opening the archives in all cases of police and prison brutality to expose the crimes of the capitalist state to public scrutiny.

Community, anti-racist, left and labor formations were key to the protests demanding “Justice for Eric Duprey!” We salute everyone who came out April 9—including Parents Supporting Parents NY, Hospital Workers Building Union Power, NY Spartacist League, NY Young Communist League, Revolutionary Internationalist Youth, JUPI BX, Freedom Socialist Party and Maoist Communist Union.