Protests continue in Brooklyn

March 14, 2013 (WABC) -- A neighborhood on edge. There's that's how to describe tonight the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn.

But why it's on edge is complicated.

Kimani Gray is the symbol. The 16-year-old was shot and killed Saturday night by two plainclothes New York cops.

They say he pulled a gun, and they produced a .38 caliber weapon to prove it. There's much criticism of the NYPD, but fabricating someone pulling a gun and producing one that didn't exist before, well, I've not heard of that with this police department.

Pull a gun on a cop, and you're going to be shot. No debate there.

But the Gray case has other elements at play that are making this a tense situation. One is the distrust between some in the African-American community and the police; many believe the NYPD, especially with huge cuts in personnel over the past 12 years, hasn't done a great job of making its case to some communities. Another is what some in the community say are outside critics coming in and helping to inflame the situation, especially Occupy Wall Street protestors who don't live in Brooklyn but who sense a ripe political issue.

Tonight, we're back in East Flatbush, trying to understand all these forces. Jeff Pegues is taking a closer look, at 11.

Also at 11, we're taking a different kind of look at the new Pope Francis. Many Catholics had hopes that a new Pope any new Pope would somehow alter the conservative trail the Church has been on, and deal more progressively with the child sex abuse scandals, same-sex marriages, abortion rights, inequality for women in the Church. But, as so many people have pointed out on my Facebook page, the Church is the bearer of a conservative set of beliefs, and it will take a bold Pope indeed to change that.

This new Pope, while humble in his lifestyle and committed to dealing with the poor, is hardly bold either in his personal style or in his political beliefs.

We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Meteorologist Lee Goldberg's AccuWeather forecast, and Rob Powers with the night's sports. I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa and me, tonight at 11.

BILL RITTER

Subscribe to my page on Facebook at facebook.com/billritter.wabc.

Follow my tweets at www.twitter.com/billritter7.

Click here to send a comment.

Get more Eyewitness News »

eyewitness news, bill ritter

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•