NYPD shooting victim’s family: Stay away, Sharpton!

[Janelle2002 3,865]

NYPD shooting victim’s family: Stay away, Sharpton!

By Lorena Mongelli and Danika Fears

December 5, 2014 | 7:01pm

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Akai Gurley's mother Sylvia PalmerPhoto: Paul Martinka

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The family of police-shooting victim Akai Gurley had a message on Friday for the Rev. Al Sharpton: Keep your “circus” away from his funeral!

The blowhard opportunist muscled his way into the arrangements — and even put out press releases promising to deliver the eulogy — without ever consulting the family or offering to foot the bill.

But Gurley’s relatives told Sharpton to stay away rather than turn the somber ceremonies into a spectacle.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Gurley’s aunt, Hertencia Petersen, told The Post. “He just wants to take credit for this when he’s never even contacted my sister [Gurley’s mother].

“Who made you the spokesperson of our family? We just want to bury our nephew with dignity and respect.”

Petersen was stunned that Sharpton and his National Action Network billed him as the eulogist for a Friday funeral, when they were planning on a Saturday service and wanted a speaker who actually knew Gurley.

“How can you do a eulogy for someone you don’t even know? It’s heartbreaking,” she said.

By late Friday, Sharpton accepted a rare defeat and backed off, though he blamed it on “confusion and division” within the Gurley family.

He said he would not attend Saturday’s 11 a.m. service at Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Brooklyn — and even backed off the Friday wake.

Gurley, 28, was shot and killed on Nov. 20 at Brooklyn’s Louis Pink Houses by rookie cop Peter Liang, who fired blindly into the darkness of an unlit stairwell.

Liang, who had been on a patrol at the East New York housing project, told officers it was an accident.

The Brooklyn district attorney plans to present evidence to a grand jury to determine whether Liang will face criminal charges, officials said Friday.

Gurley’s mom, Sylvia Palmer, spoke about her son’s death publicly for the first time Friday and said she is putting her faith in the courts.

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Akai GurleyPhoto: Facebook

“There is nothing in this world that can heal my pain and my heartache,” Palmer said. “And I pray to God that I get justice for my son.”

Gurley had made plans to drive to Florida to visit Palmer for Thanksgiving. Instead, Palmer flew to New York to bury her son.

She got no help from Sharpton, even as he grabbed headlines with his bluster in the days following the shooting.

Petersen, her sister, turned to her own health-care union, SEIU 1199, to pay for Palmer’s travel arrangements.

“National Action Network would have held the funeral without them,” said Malkia King, president of the union’s benefits fund, who helped raise the $6,000 needed to pay for flights and a hotel room for Palmer and other relatives.

Petersen fumed that Sharpton is just a publicity hound who never mourned her dead nephew.

“There is no piece of the pie for Mr. Sharpton here,” she warned, adding that whenever the rev. sticks his nose in tragedies, “It’s not pretty — there’s confusion.”

She said that Saturday service would have been “chaos” if Sharpton showed up.

“It’s about control and power,” she said. “We’re not here for that.”

In the press release sent around Friday, Sharpton said he would spend Saturday on Staten Island with the families of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin and the lawyer for the family of Ferguson police-shooting victim Michael Brown.

“I altered my schedule based on Kimberly Ballinger’s request, the domestic partner of Akai Gurley,” Sharpton claimed.

http://nypost.com/2014/12/05/cop-shoot-victims-family-stay-away-sharpton/

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

They did the right thing. If I was shot by the police, I'd want my family to speak at my funeral.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

They did the right thing. If I was shot by the police, I'd want my family to speak at my funeral.

Yeap. Funerals are not to be used for political leg ups.

[Karee 4,189]

Classy on the mother's part. Not so much for Sharpton, as usual.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Thank goodness! I was beginning to think that he'd gone into the funeral business. All kidding aside good choice.

[Karee 4,189]

I was beginning to think that he'd gone into the funeral business.

If that guy went into the funeral business, people would stop dieing. That's how useless he is.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

If that guy went into the funeral business, people would stop dieing. That's how useless he is.

But I thought all black people worship him?

[Karee 4,189]

But I thought all black people worship him?

Who said that? I know I didn't.

[Teddy B 17,251]

Just want to get the ground rules straight here. It's ok for black members of VJ to post threads and make comments regarding Al Sharpton, but not ok for the white folks to do the same? I thought Al Sharpton was played to death? Can someone please give a little clarity on this? These double standards have become very confusing.

[Karee 4,189]

These double standards have become very confusing.

Get used to it. It's the way it is these days, and isn't just on VJ.

[Teddy B 17,251]

Get used to it. It's the way it is these days, and isn't just on VJ.

Did you all have your video sex chat Friday night?

[Karee 4,189]

Did you all have your video sex chat Friday night?

Funny story concerning that. I went ahead and installed "Hangouts" but no one contacted me with the info. I pinged Marvin, (He's the only one I know from the VJ commie lib group outside of VJ) and he said they were waiting for me, yet no one ever sent me any info on who to connect with etc. So I said, "Hey, I'm ready now" Then Janelle came down with a sudden illness. Not surprising.

[decocker 7,198]

Just want to get the ground rules straight here. It's ok for black members of VJ to post threads and make comments regarding Al Sharpton, but not ok for the white folks to do the same? I thought Al Sharpton was played to death? Can someone please give a little clarity on this? These double standards have become very confusing.

al sharpto is played to death. i don't think it matters if a black or a white person is commenting regarding sharpton or jesse, as long as they're commenting about how they don't matter. do you think they matter? i've never understood why they keep coming up.

probably didn't clarify anything, but i don't see the double standard. go figure.

Funny story concerning that. I went ahead and installed "Hangouts" but no one contacted me with the info. I pinged Marvin, (He's the only one I know from the VJ commie lib group outside of VJ) and he said they were waiting for me, yet no one ever sent me any info on who to connect with etc. So I said, "Hey, I'm ready now" Then Janelle came down with a sudden illness. Not surprising.

i installed hangouts and sent an invite to marvin. but then i never got any notification to join come six, so i made some pizza and played dr mario for a few hours.

[Teddy B 17,251]

Funny story concerning that. I went ahead and installed "Hangouts" but no one contacted me with the info. I pinged Marvin, (He's the only one I know from the VJ commie lib group outside of VJ) and he said they were waiting for me, yet no one ever sent me any info on who to connect with etc. So I said, "Hey, I'm ready now" Then Janelle came down with a sudden illness. Not surprising.

The problem is, you were the only person not using an Obamaphone.

Janelle must've had a headache.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Funny story concerning that. I went ahead and installed "Hangouts" but no one contacted me with the info. I pinged Marvin, (He's the only one I know from the VJ commie lib group outside of VJ) and he said they were waiting for me, yet no one ever sent me any info on who to connect with etc. So I said, "Hey, I'm ready now" Then Janelle came down with a sudden illness. Not surprising.

Yea. I came down with a sudden illness. Aren't you the one that stood Marvin and I up. We ended talking about movies. I Saw the Devil, Korean movie, was good.

The problem is, you were the only person not using an Obamaphone.

Janelle must've had a headache.

I don' get it. What is funny about your comment?