Ariela Lopez, Contributing Photographer

WEST HAVEN — Protestors holding posters that read “We Demand Community Care, Not Killer Cops” and “Divest from Police, Invest in New Haven” gathered at a rally for police shooting victim Jebrell Conley on Thursday. 

Conley was killed on Sept. 19 after being shot simultaneously by three officers — two from the New Haven Police Department and one state police sergeant — who were pursuing him along with eight other officers on the New Haven Violent Crimes Task Force. The officers, who were attempting to serve an armed robbery warrant for Conley, surrounded him at the Splash Car Wash in West Haven and opened fire after Conley appeared to point his own gun at them. 

After the Connecticut inspector general released a preliminary status report about the shooting, Police Chief Karl Jacobson and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said they believed the officers used “appropriate force” when confronting Conley.

About 50 protesters convened at the Splash Car Wash, where community organizers led them through a series of chants, including “no justice, no peace, no racist police” and “justice for Jebrell.” After a moment of silence to honor Conley, organizers condemned the actions of the NHPD and the other task force officers. 

“[Conley’s] rights to due process were irrevocably denied, and he was executed mob-style by the New Haven Police Department who assumed the role of judge, jury and executioner,” community organizer Kerry Ellington said at the rally. “Nothing justifies the police killing Jebrell. Nothing justifies their recklessness and their violence that they engineered last week.”

On Monday and Tuesday, friends of and advocates for Conley rallied outside the New Haven Police Department on Union Avenue, according to video clips obtained by the News. The Monday rally directly followed an NHPD press conference on the release of the Office of the Inspector General’s preliminary status report on the shooting, which stated that Conley “appeared to fire” a round toward the officers before the officers began shooting.

At the Thursday march, organizers called for the firing and decertification of NHPD Sgt. Francisco Sanchez, Officer Michael Valente and State Police Sgt. Colin Richter, the officers who shot Conley. They also urged lawmakers to abolish the violent crimes task force and reinvest in social services for New Haven.

Sanchez and Valente, the two New Haven officers involved in the shooting, are currently on administrative leave. 

Sanchez’s name was familiar to many attending the march — he was a patrol officer in the Hill neighborhood when Conley lived there, NHPD Officer Christian Bruckhart told the News.

According to NHPD’s Jacobson, Conley was a member of New Haven’s Grape Street Crips gang. Dozens of protestors wore purple, the Crips’ signature color, and one poster depicted Conley with the phrase “Fo’rver Grapin” emblazoned above his head. Tamara Flint, Conley’s first cousin, said purple was his favorite color.

After the organizers’ speeches, they led protestors on a half-mile-long march to a house on Davenport Street in the Hill, where Conley grew up. The house has since fallen into visible disrepair. Outside of the house, candles spelling out “CITY” — Conley’s gang name, according to prior warrants —  joined posters and photos in an “altar for Jebrell,” Ellington said.

Protestors emphasized their skepticism that the officers carried out the shooting in self-defense, noting that the full body camera footage with audio has not been released yet. 

“Don’t look at the cops as the heroes anymore,” Flint said when asked what community members should take away from Conley’s death. “This is not what y’all get paid to do. Y’all [are] getting paid to get criminals off the street.”

Bruckhart, the NHPD’s communications officer, told the News that the department cannot release the full footage until the inspector general’s office does so as part of its investigation report.

Though organizers and protestors acknowledged Conley’s criminal history, they pointed out that the police had many nonviolent alternatives, such as serving Conley’s warrant at his probation office.

“It’s not okay for there to be one form of justice if your skin is one color, and another if your skin is not,” social worker and protest attendee Sam Mashaw said. “There’s no doubt that there were warrants out for Jebrell Conley, and if he had been a white man, he would be in cuffs in a cell, not dead.”

From the house on Davenport Street, the march continued to the New Haven police headquarters. NHPD’s Bruckhart told the News that the marchers did not have a confrontation with any of the officers at the police station.

Splash Car Wash is located at 2 Boston Post Rd in West Haven.