KCK activists call for investigation of police department after man killed by officer
Activists on Thursday gathered to support the family of Amaree’ya Henderson, the 25-year-old killed by police during a Kansas City, Kansas, traffic stop, and called for a federal investigation of the police department.
Outside the Unified Government building in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, the family was joined by roughly two dozen supporters in a demonstration organized by the Metropolitan Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, or MORE2. In the wake of Henderson’s death, the group is re-issuing the call for the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a pattern-or-practice investigation of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.
Henderson, of Independence, had been out delivering orders for DoorDash on April 26 when he was pulled over in the 1100 block of Metropolitan Avenue near the 12th Street Bridge that crosses the Kansas River, his family has said. Henderson’s family said he was unarmed and did not present a threat to the officers when he was shot.
Police, meanwhile, have said Henderson was shot after a “confrontation” with officers, but have declined to be more specific. Homicide detectives with the Kansas City Police Department in Missouri handled the investigation as part of KCKPD’s agreement with the outside agency to conduct deadly use of force reviews externally.
On Wednesday, the case was sent to Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree to determine whether the shooting would be considered justified under Kansas law. The top county prosecutor vowed to act accordingly and afford the case the same scrutiny as any other criminal case review.
As the family continues to seek answers, Pauletta Johnson, his mother, said Thursday her only son was taken away from her that night. She described him as an intelligent, upstanding young man who “always left love behind.”
Paulina Johnson, Henderson’s younger sister, said he was a protector to her, their other sister and their mother. Over the two weeks since his sudden death, she said, her two-year-old son has wondered where his Uncle Amaree’ya went.
“And I don’t know what to say,” Paulina Johnson said, adding that she will ensure the memories will live on in her son “so he will never forget his favorite person.”
On the night he was shot, Henderson’s girlfriend, Shakira Hill, was in the passenger seat and his mother was on the phone listening to the police encounter. Johnson was driving there, she previously told The Star, when she heard gunfire.
During the stop, the family has said, Henderson was afraid for his safety and could not get a straight answer from police about why he was pulled over. Hill told The Star the officer had tried to force his way into the vehicle and Henderson was starting to pull away in the moments before he was shot to death.
The family has since hired lawyers as they prepare a civil rights lawsuit against the police department.
The attorneys have said the evidence they’ve reviewed thus far indicates the police officer unjustly shot Henderson, who was unarmed and behind the wheel of his car, in a manner where the officer clearly escalated what should have been a simple traffic stop. They also contend the officer violated the department’s own use of force policies by shooting Henderson.
Attorney Kay Harper Williams, representing the family, said Thursday that Johnson is still awaiting an opportunity to see footage from body cameras worn by police — a legal right under Kansas law.
Harper Williams also noted that law enforcement has not shared the name of the officer who shot Henderson.
“He’s able to stand behind his badge, behind a ‘blue wall,’” she said. “Unfortunately, all of us now know Amaree’ya Henderson’s name. He is the victim here. This officer who shot and killed him on April 26 failed to serve or protect him.”
Over the past two weeks, the shooting of Henderson has drawn attention from local activists and organizations. Justice for Wyandotte organized a weekend rally seeking the public release of body camera footage in the case.
David Grummon, a local attorney and member of MORE2, on Thursday pointed to the shooting of Henderson as the latest example of deep-seated issues in KCKPD.
“We can change,” Grummon said, encouraging Kansas City, Kansas community members to call congressional and local elected officials to press the issue. “And the truth is, we have within our grasp a powerful tool that can make this better.”
