Updated Monday, May 12, 1:10 p.m. EDT: Community pressure may have forced Sgt. Mourad Mourad to decline the Cop of the Year award after several news outlets reported on public outrage over the choice of recipient: a nine-year veteran of the police force who was involved in the controversial fatal shooting of 16-year-old Kimani Gray, according to the Daily News.
The Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition for Truth and Justice recently issued a statement calling for the NYPD Muslim Officers Society to rescind Cop of the Year honors to Sgt. Mourad.
"In light of the serious issues surrounding Sergeant Mourad, we find it unconscionable that he would be considered for an award. Furthermore, the Muslim community is a community that stands up for the civil rights of others and is sensitive to the plight of marginalized communities who suffer the abuses of the NYPD."
Earlier:
New York police Sgt. Mourad Mourad, whose record includes involvement in the questionable fatal shooting of an African-American teenager, has been honored as Cop of the Year by the NYPD Muslim Officers Society, the Amsterdam News reports.
The nine-year NYPD veteran was working undercover in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, on March 3, 2013, when he and his partner, Jovaniel Cordova, approached 16-year-old Kimani Gray. The officers said they stopped Kimani to question him and shot the teen after he pulled out a gun.
Mourad was taken off patrol and given an administrative assignment while authorities conducted an internal investigation. According to the Amsterdam News, the Brooklyn district attorney has not decided whether to press charges against Mourad.
"They shot him," a witness said after the shooting, the Amsterdam News reports. "They didn't ask him no questions, no nothing, they just shot him."
According to reports, Mourad and Cordova have been named in several lawsuits costing the city a total of $215,000 in settlements.
The Amsterdam News reports that in April, Kimani’s family filed lawsuits against Mourad, Cordova and the NYPD.
Charles Barron, the former Brooklyn city councilman, told the Amsterdam News that he has spoken with Kimani's mother, Carol Gray, and that she is "outraged" by news of Mourad receiving the award.
"It's an insult to the family and the community," Barron said. "This is a disregard for black life. The decision should have been put on hold until an investigation is complete. There has been a pattern in the police department to reward cops who killed our black youth. It sends out a bad message."
Read more at the Amsterdam News.