People gather in Utica for 13-year-old Nyah Mway, demanding justice

Almost a thousand people gathered in Utica, all demanding justice for 13-year-old Nyah Mway before marching so everyone could hear their voice.

"Do you feel ashamed? When you hear my name? Nyah Mway, Nyah Mway, Nyah Mway!""No justice, no peace! No racist police!""No hate, no fear! Refugees are welcome here!"

These are just a handful of the slogans, chants, and screams from the sea of people walking through Utica on Saturday, many carrying signs or framed pictures of the 13-year-old.

Among those attending the march was Hawa Juma, a Utica resident and a Kenyan refugee whose family immigrated to the United States in 2004.

When asked why she was marching, Juma said that being a refugee from a war-torn country meant she and her family were looking for a better life.

"We wanted a better future," she said. "Our parents faced trauma [in their home country] and now their kids are going through a similar trauma. And it's making parents feel like their kids are in danger — from the same thing [they escaped.]"

The Past

The distrust of police and the military is one that can be found in many a refugee all over the world. According to a report by Human Rights Watch in 2010, police in Kenya would regularly abuse Somali refugees and take advantage of them.

Quote: "Making no distinction between women, children, and men, police often use violence, unlawful detention in appalling overcrowded conditions, and threats of deportation to extort money from them. Some police officers rape women near the border. During the first ten weeks of 2010, hundreds, if not thousands, of Somali asylum seekers unable to pay were unlawfully sent back to Somalia."

And the Karen people have been in conflict with the military and police in Myanmar/Burma since the 40s. In a 2006 report, Human Rights Watch urged the U.N. Security Council to act and stop the attacks by the Burmese army. Detailing the events, they wrote:

"Burmese troops have looted and burned homes and planted anti-personnel landmines in civilian areas to terrorize the local population. In some cases, villagers have reportedly been ordered by battalion commanders to leave their homes or face summary execution. Fleeing villagers have reported witnessing soldiers commit extrajudicial killings and torture. They have also reported that men, women and children have been forcibly conscripted to work either as army porters or as unpaid laborers."

The Future

Kay Klo, director at the Midtown Utica Community Center, spoke before the crowd on Saturday before the march.

"I know I wear many hats in the community," Klo said. "But today, I come to you today as Kay, the community leader who loves her people and the little girl, the teenager, and now the young adult in our community. When the kids and youth say they are not being heard, listen to them. We are the community who grew up with Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Trayvon Martin. We've witnessed the deadly reality of police brutality broadcast on our screens and social media."

Klo said their parents and grandparents have been the victims of unimaginable violence, state-sanctioned persecution, abject poverty, and ethnic cleansing.

"We know what abuse looks like," she said. "We know it's like to be targeted and shot by state authorities because of your ethnicity. So don't gaslight us and try to convince us that Nyah Mway's slaughter was justified... Our community is underfunded and over-policed. Our kids are too scared to go outside."

Klo listed a series of demands before the march.

• Utica Mayor Michael Galime and Utica Police Department offers an official apology and admission of wrongdoing for the shooting death of Nyah Mwah.
• The city cover funeral costs, as well as mental health services for the family
• The Utica Police Department's investigation remain transparent, with weekly updates in English, Burmese, and Karen
• Irrespective of the findings of the investigation, the officers involved be fired from the Utica Police Department due to the loss of public trust for these officers
• The city invest in public institutions that help public safety by providing resources to young children
• The city establish an independent civilian review board by community stakeholders who have investigatory and disciplinary power
• The Utica Police Department work to change the demographic of the police department to better reflect the racial demographic of the city
• Legislation that would require to transparent record all stops with information pertaining to where they were stopped, why they were stopped, and what the demographic was for being staffed.

The march took them all the way from Roscoe Conkling Park to Mohawk Valley Community College.