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Dozens of community members demand justice for 20-year-old student killed by Cambridge Police

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — “Justice for Faisal, justice for Faisal!”

Outside of Cambridge City Hall, dozens of people continue to demand justice for Sayed Faisal more than two months after Cambridge Police shot and killed him.

“At 20 years old his life was taken away by the very same country his parents placed all their hope in,” says a Faisal supporter.

The UMass Boston student was gunned down on January 4th for allegedly charging officers with a long knife. No other college students are demanding for all the officers involved in the shooting to be fired immediately and for them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They also want their names released along with the release of the unredacted police report of the incident.

“Basically, I think their plan has been a prolonged cover-up to just release some statements, to ignore what happened and move on with business as usual,” says Jeffrey Shen, Party for Socialism and Liberation Organizer.

On Monday night, Cambridge City Councilors and the police commissioner met to discuss police officers wearing body cameras. The commissioner says the department is evaluating other police departments’ usage of them and making sure there are no privacy concerns.

“Should be pretty fine with the surveillance ordinance. Some of the things like facial recognition software is addressed. I don’t see any real big barriers,” says Chief Christine Elow of the Cambridge Police Department.

The city has also hired the Police Executive Research Forum, also known as PERF based in Washington, D.C. to independently review Cambridge Police’s current training programs, policies, and protocols. Rally organizers say PERF aligns with what they are fighting for.

“Many people support releasing the names including PERF which is the organization that Cambridge has brought in,” says Shen.

In the aftermath of Faisal’s death, Cambridge Police also says its evaluating less lethal options for future use. For now, people still want the officers who killed Faisal held accountable.

“We will continue keeping up the pressure until we win justice for Faisal,” says Shen.

There will be another rally for Faisal on Tuesday at Cambridge City Hall at 4:30 followed by a meeting with city leaders at 5:00.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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