NYC Volunteers
The family of 19-year-old Win Rozario—who was shot to death by NYPD on March 27, 2024 in his home in Queens, NY while having a mental health crisis—filed a federal lawsuit Monday (06/23) against the police officers involved in the murder of Rozario and maltreatment of the family.
In March 2024, Rozario had called 911 to report his own mental health crisis. Within minutes of arriving on the scene, NYPD officers Matthew Cianfrocco and Salvator Alongi tased Rozario two times and shot him a total of five times. While Rozario’s parents and younger brother tried to shield him from the police, they moved away after following police orders, who then proceeded to shoot Rozario. The police’s justification for the murder was that Rozario had a pair of scissors in his hands.
After the shooting, the police refused to let Rozario’s family accompany him to the hospital, instead interrogating them as if they were suspects. They were not informed Rozario was dead until after they were questioned.
The family of Win Rozario, alongside supporting organizations, held a rally on Thursday demanding the immediate firing and prosecution of the officers involved in the murder, as well as an investigation into those who mistreated the family. Among those present were others whose loved ones were also murdered by NYPD officers who have yet to be held accountable.
According to the family’s attorney, despite the two police officers facing an ongoing investigation for the killing, they continue to receive a salary of $200,000 a year. Meanwhile, the city has yet to release the name of the other officers accused of maltreatment of the family.
Several politicians also spoke at the rally, who placed the blame on NYPD’s lack of training and the need for mental health respondents beside the police. Such gimmicks aim to excuse the role of the NYPD as a whole and place the blame only on the few officers involved, as if the police’s aggression is due to poor training or having too many roles. Police respond violently to the masses regardless of how many training sessions they are given because their function under imperialism is to enforce oppressive laws that preserve the dictatorship of capital. They are pitted against the people and exercise their force terroristically in order to intimidate them.
In contrast to the politicians, organizers of the event spoke about the class nature of state violence. When asked about how the demands will be won, a lead organizer told a volunteer with The Worker, “It’s about people power. How do we really push our demands? We are not going to beg these agencies and city officials for answers. They never have answered these calls before. We know that when people come together, when people put pressure, when working class people put pressure—because these are the things that mostly working class people face, police violence, state violence—that we can actually achieve the things that we want, which is firing and prosecuting the officers and getting NYPD out of mental health response.”
Following the rally, family members led a march on City Hall to deliver their demands to NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who has so far refused to meet with the family and address the demands.
Photo: Win Rozario’s family speaks at a rally on June 26, 2025 demanding justice for their murdered son.
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