JUSTICE
FOR
NYAH
WHAT HAPPENED
Around 10 p.m. on Friday, June 28th, 2024, the Utica Police Department murdered 13-year-old Nyah Mway
Having just graduated the 8th grade, Nyah and his friend were returning home from an 8th grade graduation barbeque. As young boys barely on the cusp of teenagehood, he and his friend were biking home that summer Friday night, soaking in the evening before police officers Patrick Husnay, Bryce Patterson, and Andrew Citriniti stopped them. The boy’s violation, according to the Utica Police Department, was allegedly walking on the street.
When the officers asked to pat Nyah down, he did what many young boys who are fearful of the police do: he fled. After a brief chase, Officer Patterson tackled him down, punched him several times, and was actively restraining him before Officer Husnay drew his weapon and executed Nyah with a point-blank shot to the chest. At a mere 13-years-old, Nyah’s life ended before it really even began.
Nyah’s family is distraught. Having fled state-persecution as ethnic minorities in war-torn Myanmar, the Mway family came to the United States as refugees seeking a better life -- only to see their young boy killed by state authorities here.
Nyah’s family, the Karen community, and the broader Utica community are now calling for justice and accountability.
OUR QUESTIONS:
Shortly after the night of Nyah’s murder, the Utica Police Department told the Mway family that Nyah died as a result of a shoot-out. Bystander footage that circulated online immediately revealed that story to be a lie.
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Nyah was actively being assaulted and restrained by Officer Peterson, who later explained that, at some point during the ground struggle, the alleged weapon was on the ground next to Nyah, no longer in Nyah’s possession. Seconds after the shooting, as body cam footage reveals, Officer Peterson can be heard asking, “What the f*** did he [Officer Husnay] shoot [for]?”
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The Utica Police Department claimed that an ongoing criminal investigation based on an alleged robbery the night before Nyah’s murder gave the description that served as a pretext for stopping Nyah and his friend.
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The Utica Police Department announced that all involved officers are being placed on “paid administrative leave” while they investigate the incident.
Why are our tax dollars being used to effectively place the three complicit officers on paid vacation after murdering a 13-year-old?
“The mother of the 13-year-old began yelling and screaming. A member of the community translated: ‘She said she doesn't want to be in the same room as killers.’"
Casey Pritchard • USA Today
WE DEMAND
JUSTICE FOR NYAH
That the Mayor’s office and the Utica Police Department offer an official apology and admission of wrongdoing for the murder of Nyah Mway.
That the City cover funeral and burial costs, as well as mental health expenses, for the family as they deal with the devastating loss of their child.
That the UPD investigation -- its process, stages, timeline, and findings - remain transparent and fair. The family and community demand weekly updates in English and Karen, written and verbalized publicly.
That irrespective of the findings of the investigation, the officers involved are fired from the Utica Police Department. The findings of an investigation cannot change the fact that these officers have lost the public’s trust.
That the City invests in community institutions, like the Midtown Utica Community Center, Mohawk Valley Latino Association, Mohawk Valley of Junior Frontiers, and Utica Royalties that serve public safety by providing recreation and resources to young people like Nyah.
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While it is important that the UPD has its own internal mechanism of investigation, the community cannot and will not trust the findings of any investigation that the UPD conducts regarding its own behavior. While we welcome the New York State Attorney General’s independent investigation, we demand a community-controlled process in which the community is directly involved in holding the UPD accountable when it oversteps its bounds.
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Most of its officers not only do not reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the community - they are in fact not even from the community. Instead, this largely white police force brings in from the surrounding suburbs their biased views of our city, leading them to racially profile us, kill our children, and take the income that they receive from our tax dollars back to the suburbs from which they come. We demand that the UPD fundamentally changes this process of exploitation.