Kadiatou Diallo will never forget the day she lost her son, Amadou Diallo, nor the police officers who killed him, one of whom received a promotion this week.

According to the Daily News, Officer Kenneth Boss was elevated to the rank of sergeant in the New York Police Department aviation unit on Thursday.

“You have so many police officers out there who deserve to be promoted, and this man is being promoted?” Diallo asked the Daily News.

“For doing what? Killing my son? I don’t have any hatred or revenge in my heart, but my life was changed forever that day. This is a stab in the heart.”

Boss was one of four white officers who, together, shot a total of 41 shots at 22-year-old iallo while he was reaching for his wallet on Feb. 4, 1999. Officers believed Diallo was reaching for a gun. He was unarmed. However, Boss and the other officers were ultimately acquitted of the charges in 2000.

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton is planning to organize a rally at 1 Police Plaza.

Photo credit: Creative Commons

Author

  • Victoria M. Massie is a freelance writer and anthropologist who is currently the Staff Writer for Black Youth Project. Her work focuses on feminism, politics, science, and diaspora, but, more often than not, she spends her time obsessing about ideas of "home." She is a National Science Foundation fellow and a Lifetime Member of the West African Research Association.