Protesters March Into City Hall to Demand Justice for Sayed Faisal

BY JINA H. CHOE AND SAMUEL P. GOLDSTON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Protesters stormed Cambridge City Hall and marched into Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui’s office Monday evening to demand answers on the police killing of Sayed Faisal, calling on city officials to release the names of the officers involved in the shooting.

The protest interrupted an otherwise ordinary city council meeting, with more than a dozen protesters demanding justice and transparency on the Jan. 4 fatal shooting of Faisal — a 20-year-old University of Massachusetts Boston student and Cambridge resident— by a Cambridge Police Department officer.

Led by Somerville resident Suhail P.

Purkar, the protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations sparked by resident outrage at the killing, with gatherings at Cambridge City Hall on Jan. 9 and Harvard Square on Jan. 14. “City Manager Huang, Mayor Siddiqui, it has been two weeks since our brother Faisal was murdered!” Purkar shouted from the audience, as the Council voted on a motion to conclude public comment. “We still do not know the names of the officers who murdered Faisal!”

The councilors immediately motioned to recess as protesters shouted from the rear of the chamber, with some demonstrators holding a large banner with a portrait of Faisal and the inscription “Justice for Faisal.” As councilors rose from their seats and hurried to the exits, the protesters remained in the chamber and chanted “Re -