Councilman James E. Davis Shot Dead at City Hall

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2003

City Hall, New York, NY

James Davis was a political outsider who pounded his way into the elective office without the support of party leaders, and continued to abide by that independent spirit until his dying day. Davis, 41, grew up in Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Bedford

Stuyvesant, which he would later patrol as a cop, and ultimately represent as City Council. He was born April 3rd, 1962. His parents were James and Thelma (his father deceased). He has two brothers and two sisters. He attended Tilden High School in 1980, and Pace University in 1989. He was a corrections officer from 1989 until 1991 and a police officer from 1991 until 2001. He was a democratic leader for the 43rd assembly district. He was elected in the year 2000. He was city councilman for the 35th district, for which he was elected in 2001. He worked as a cop at the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville, Brooklyn, as an instructor at the Police Academy, where he taught about racism, sexism, and alcohol abuse. He was the founder of the organization "Love Yourself - Stop the Violence..". He lead annual marches to denounce violence. Once in the council, Davis openly critized Council Speaker Gifford Miller for fighting a court decision over term limit. Davis was one of the three council members who voted against property tax hikes.

Davis, an ex-cop who carried a gun, never got a shot off, but an officer assigned to guard another politician shot and killed Davis's assailant. The gunfire erupted at 2:15pm on the balcony of the crowded Council Chamber, which included spectators and many children which were there to pick up the proclamations involving the Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade. The killer, Othniel Boaz Askew, had been trying to unseat Councilman James Davis for the 35th District, filing to run against him, but failed to get enough signatures. James Davis escorted Othniel Boaz Askew around the metal detectors only minutes earlier. Davis and Askew then headed up to the balcony that overlooks the Chamber Floor, and began talking. After a little time, all hell broke loose. There was no shouting, just shots. When the first shots rang out, police officers shoved people under the desks or into adjourning rooms Askew stood above the 41-year-old councilman, Davis and shot seven round from a silver Smith & Wesson .40 calibre pistol into him while Davis laid helpless on the balcony floor. Plain clothes cop Richard Burt, a nine-year veteran, started shooting at Askew from the Chamber Floor, hitting him with four of his five shots, police said. Two bullets hit him in the chest and one hit him in each arm. Police Commissioner Kelly said "Police Officer Burt did an outstanding job by taking immediate action that saved many lives." House Speaker Miller, too, had high praise for Burt. Mayor Bloomberg visited Davis's family in the hospital and called it the toughest day in his life. Bloomberg spoke of the common practice for elected offiicals, including himself and Miller, to skirt the metal detectors at either end of the City Hall Parking lot. But, in the wake of this security fiasco, the Mayor said that now, everyone, without exception, will pass through the machines. "If you don't go through the machines, you will not get into City Hall, PERIOD.", said Bloomberg.

On Sunday, July 27, 2003, I attended the wake, at the House of Hills Funeral Home in Brooklyn, where thousands of mourners and weepers lined up to bid farewell to slain Councilman James E. Davis. I had the pleasure of meeting the younger brother of Councilman Davis, Geoffrey Davis. I offered my condolences to him, as I looked at the body of Councilman James E. Davis. I leaned over and asked Geoffrey if he was very serious about running in his brother's place. He turned to me and said "I prayed about it, and I will not be making any irrational decisions. This is what I want to do to keep my brother's memory alive. The people also encouraged me to run for his seat in the 35th District Council." Geoffrey then said "The torch has been passed. The dream is bigger than myself and the dream is bigger than my brother; it's an historic time for New York City." I also met some of former Councilman James E. Davis's friends with whom he attended school, one of them being Mr. Bruce Beattie, who grew up on the same block with Davis,played high school football with him at the Tilden High School, and graduated with him in 1980. Another childhood friend I interviewed was Tami Green, who is a fitness trainer and amateur tennis player. As she left the wake with tears in her eyes after seeing her friend, Councilman Davis, lying in the gold engraved, cherry wood casket. I politely approached her and asked her what her affiliation was with the former Councilman. She told me that they grew up on the same block and were the best of friends. I asked her if she would be interested in an interview. She replied "Yes, I will be happy to." This is what she said in the interview. "We grew up and played on the same block on Brooklyn Avenue and Eastern Parkway since we were eight years old."

James E. Davis showed a lot of leadership skills then. He was ‘the man on the block’; nobody would mess with him. That’s why we nicknamed him ‘Rocky’. Also, as a teenager, he had his own line of jeans, called ‘The James E. Davis Line.’, which he made a commercial for. At the age of eighteen, he became involved with the ministry; he was a born-again Christian, He was a minister. We named him ‘Reverend Rocky.’ He told me a little later in life that it was a calling from God for him to do this. He then became a police officer and then went on to win the council seat. As he was running for the council seat, he had asked me to help him get signatures on the block, so he can get elected. I was very happy to help him with that. He had such a great way with allocating duties to people, and his motto was ‘You help me and I will help you.’ We will all deeply miss him.” Among his many other friends who told me good things about him were Aaron Frederick, Ivan Moore and Esther Rowe. I also met the Reverand O.B.J. Burson, Pastor of the Holy Trinity Baptist Church in Brooklyn, who was in tears. He told me he baptized Councilman James E. Davis, his brother and his cousins. I met Councilman Jose M. Serrano, from the 17th Council District, who had worked very closely with James E. Davis, and found him to be a wonderful fellow council member. He was also with his father, Congressman Jose M. Seranno, Sr. Next, I met Councilman David I. Werpin, from the 23rd Council District in Queens, who told me while he was in the council meeting “The shots sounded like firecrackers, and everyone was shouting ‘Get Down!’. I got down underneath a desk. It was a very scary situation.” When I asked him what kind of a relationship did Councilman James E. Davis had with the Council Speaker Gifford, he told me “After the speaker, Gifford took him off from one of the committees which James E. Davis headed, James E. Davis continued to joke and be pleasant with him. I did not see any personal rivalry amongst both of them.” I spoke with Mr. Ralph Perfetto, the District Leader for the 60th Disctrict. “He told me he had the pleasure of working with James E. Davis on many occasions, and really liked him for his honesty, integrity and hard work. I will come out of my own way, out of may own district, to help his brother, Geoffrey Davis, to get elected if he needs my help.” Said Perfetto.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Councilman James E. Davis through his brother, Goeffrey, who is a close friend of mine. I was invited by Geoffrey to attend one of their DTTS Organization events earlier this year at the Club Demorarra, based in New York, where the Councilman gave a wonderful speech of the work he was doing with the community in regarding stopping the violence and educating the youths. He was also very excited about the idea of helping our organization, the Help Against Drugs Organization, with funding, because he also believes in helping youths and getting rid of the guns and violence.

Abbey H. Muneer is the Executive Director of H.A.D. Organization of New York City, Inc., a world-famous athlete, author and, above all, a humanitarian. Abbey will write articles about charity events, benefits, fundraisers and galas which are raising money for humantiarian causes. If you are interested in having Abbey and one his staff members cover one of your charity events, benefits, fundraisers or galas, feel free to notify us one week in advance, at LNEvents@hadofnyc.org, or telephone us at (718) 507-7616, between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm e.s.t. and ask to speak to Abbey or Maria. If you would like more information, or would like to have Liberty News Online Magazine consult your next charitable event, please feel free to visit our website, at http://www.hadofnyc.org/store/success.html, email us at humanitarians@hadofnyc.org, or telephone our hotline, at (718) 507-7616, between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm e.s.t. (U.S.A.)