NYC: All Out for Eric Duprey!

For the first time in nearly a decade, an NYC cop will stand trial for killing yet another person from the Bronx, where the cops relentlessly hunt down and terrorize black people and Latinos. This time, the target was Eric Duprey, who came to the U.S. to search for work and escape the U.S. colonial subjugation and rape of Puerto Rico. The 30-year-old worker and father of two young children was viciously killed in cold blood. On 23 August 2023, he was riding his scooter when NYPD narc Erik Duran threw a 40-pound ice cooler at him, causing Eric to sideswipe a tree before falling and hitting his head on the curb. He died instantly from brain trauma.

Enough! The cops cannot keep getting away with this! We need to mobilize everyone possible from community groups, the unions and left organizations to show the cops that we’ve had it. They can’t keep rolling through our neighborhoods like it’s GTA and murdering our loved ones. There must not be any more blood spilled by these thugs. Let’s turn out to the courthouse to say in one loud voice: Throw Erik Duran’s ass in jail!

For more than two years, the Duprey family has waited for justice, as the so-called “justice system” puts them through a painful rigmarole. At each pre-trial hearing, the family has had to endure an army of cops, who mobilize to support their brother-in-arms and intimidate those fighting for justice for Duprey. The prosecuting D.A.’s office has continually delayed the proceedings and botched the disclosure of evidence, showing no interest in putting the killer cop behind bars.

In every way, the system looks out for the killer cops. They are even given the option of a bench trial, in which the judge alone decides guilt or innocence. Duran, of course, opted for this, fully aware of the justified hatred that black people and Latinos in the Bronx have for the cops. The main reason this case hasn’t just been thrown out already is that OPA and BLM Greater NY have been organizing protests to keep the pressure up. This will be even more urgent for the trial. They want to give Duran a pass and we’re not gonna let that happen! Let’s show them what New York is made of!

No matter which way one looks, the cards are stacked against us. We are battered day in and day out while trying to stay alive in this unlivable city. To make things even worse, the cops are using us for target practice. This year alone, cops have killed at least 1,200 people nationwide, and the number keeps climbing. Every working-class New Yorker knows how out of control the cops are. What happened to Eric Duprey could’ve easily happened to their kid or even themselves.

We desperately need to defend ourselves. Showing up to the courthouse in force and demanding that the killer cop spend the rest of his miserable life behind bars sends the message that we will not tolerate these marauding thugs who lay siege to our neighborhoods. We must rely on ourselves and other working people and not the courts, which are obviously siding with their cop brethren.

All out January 14! Demand justice for Eric Duprey and all victims of police brutality! We must fight to expose all the cops’ crimes. Get out the word—post this article or your own statement on social media, go out into the community and get as many people as possible to the courthouse.