What began as a mission of mercy at a public housing project in White Plains ended with police killing the very man they had been dispatched to help.
By the time the rapidly escalating conflict was over, police had zapped a 68-year-old former Marine and correction officer with a stun gun, shot him with a beanbag gun and blasted him twice in the chest. The chronically ill Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. died at White Plains Hospital shortly after the early-morning clash on Nov. 19.
Only now, more than four months after the fact, have authorities finally agreed to convene a grand jury to determine if the cops committed a crime. Like 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Chamberlain was African-American, and his death has added fuel to the growing national debate that has flared since the Florida teen was killed on Feb. 26. As in Florida, the White Plains incident received little press attention for weeks and authorities resisted a grand jury probe. Since then, accounts have surfaced that at least one officer was heard on a tape hurling racial epithets and taunts in the moments before cops removed Chamberlains apartment door from its hinges and burst inside. During the past several days, nearly 200,000 people have signed an online petition demanding justice in Chamberlains case.
