NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Isa Muhammad was the driver of the Dodge Charger carrying Kamal Flowers the night of June 5, 2020 when New Rochelle Police Officer Alec McKenna shot and killed Flowers following an improbable traffic stop on a dark New Rochelle street.
The case was placed before a Westchester County Grand Jury earlier this week. Muhammad testified on Tuesday.
In statements and remarks to the press immediately after the office-involved shooting, Mayor Noam Bramson and Police Commissioner Joe Schaller presented dubious narratives that did not survive contract with police records, audio recordings and CCTV video obtained and published by Talk of the Sound.
Some of the narrative could only have come from McKenna. All of it is so obviously untrue and easily checked that the trios false statements can only be seen as a deliberate attempts to create a false narrative of the events leading up to the death of Kamal Flowers. Overall, not a good look for the City of New Rochelle and the New Rochelle Police Department as they went about a ham-handed attempt to deflect the outrage and anger that had spread nationwide in the wake of the death of George Floyd and keep it away from New Rochelle.
Talk of the Sound has doggedly persisted in working to pull out the facts of this sensitive matter.
Since June, we have filed over six hundred Freedom of Information Requests and (as all our requests were denied) filed over 600 Appeals to the “Constructive Denials” of these Requests. We have already drafted lawsuits we expect to file next month against the City of New Rochelle, New Rochelle Police Department and Westchester County District Attorney’s Office in New York State Supreme Court.
It would be charitable to say that the City, the Cops and the DA have been unhelpful in this regard. A more accurate description would be they have repeatedly broken New York State law in denying access to public records and we intend to hold them to account in front of a judge.
The truth, as Shakespeare once wrote, will out — even if it comes in bits and pieces.
The latest shoe to drop was the arrest of Isa Muhammad on October 22nd 2020 by New Rochelle Police which many residents see as a transparent attempt to harass and intimidate a witness days before he was scheduled to appear before a Grand Jury in the matter of NRPD Officer McKenna shooting and killing Kamal Flowers last Spring.
“The timing of the arrest of Mr. Muhammad and the decision of the Westchester DA to proceed with criminal charges against him is dubious at best,” said Minister Mark McLean, President of the NAACP New Rochelle Branch. “This is a prime example of why Governor Cuomo has failed the Black community and the entire City of New Rochelle by not only refusing to appoint the New York State Attorney General to investigate this case, but indeed refusing to acknowledge this case all together.”
Richard St. Paul, who represents the Flowers family and, with the Grand Jury proceedings represents Muhammad, found the timing odd.
“It is certainly suspicious that the New Rochelle Police department would arrest a key witness in the Kamal Flowers’ shooting by a New Rochelle Police Officer days before he is set to testify,” said St. Paul.
Asked for details of Muhammad’s October 22nd arrest, a New Rochelle Police Department spokesperson would only say he was “arrested and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana 2nd degree, criminal possession of marijuana 4th degree (aggregate weight of more than 2 ounces), criminal sale controlled substance 3rd degree and he also had an active warrant out of Mount Vernon.” The spokesperson failed to mention the charges were from 2019 and that Muhammad has been arrested and appeared in New Rochelle City Court multiple times since the tragic night of June 5th, causing many to wonder, “why now?”, three days before Muhammad’s appearance before the Grand Jury.
We have since obtained a lightly documented NRPD arrest report from October 22nd, in addition to court records from Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, and spoke with the Criminal Clerk’s office in Mount Vernon City Court.
Taken together, it reads like a poorly written script for Hot Tub Time Machine 3:
On November 13, 2019, New Rochelle Police allege, Muhammad committed Criminal Possession Control Substance – 3rd and Criminal Possession Control Substance – 3rd:1 Gram Stimulant.
On December 3, 2019, New Rochelle Police allege, Muhammad committed Criminal Sale of Marihuana-4th and Unlawful Possession of Marihuana 2nd.
Muhammad was not charged at the time in either matter — possibly because the allegations were part of an ongoing surveillance operation by NRPD detectives along the lines of Operation City Sweeper.
As we shall see, Muhammad was not arraigned on these charges for almost a year, not until he went in front of Judge Susan I. Kettner in New Rochelle City Court on October 23, 2020 despite his having been arrested and arraigned in New Rochelle multiple times since the shooting of Kamal Flowers.
Isa Muhammad was arrested in Mount Vernon on March 3, 2020 after police say he was observed driving his vehicle after his car insurance lapsed — and was in possession of more than 2 ounces of marijuana. He was charged with Criminal Possession Marihuana-4th (more than 2 Oz) and various vehicle-related violations: Operating a Motor Vehicle without Insurance, Suspended Registration, Operating an Unregistered Vehicle and two equipment violations (No Signals/flashers and No Signs/flashers).
Isa Muhammad was driving the Dodge Charger on June 5th when he was supposedly pulled over by “good police work”, according to Commissioner Schaller, who told the world on June 6, 2020 that his officers had been looking for the vehicle for two days. Entirely false. Police were called to the Heritage Homes on June 4 based on a citizen complaint and located the vehicle — and Muhammad — within minutes. This is based on audio of police communications from that night heard by Talk of the Sound and police records seen by Talk of the Sound which document the vehicle make/model and license plates and our interview of Isa Muhammad.
In the days after the death of Kamal Flowers, police told Muhammad’s attorney that they were not looking for Isa Muhammad and did not want to arrange an interview or even issue summonses for his alleged traffic violations on June 5th.
Muhammad was back in court in Mount Vernon on the Marihuana and vehicle-related charges on July 21, 2020, according to court records.
Isa Muhammad was arrested on September 2, 2020 by the New York State Police and charged with Criminal Possession Weapon – 4th, Criminal Possession of Marihuana – 4th (2 Oz), Stop/stand/park Violation Highway (VTL) and Failure To Obey Traffic Device (VTL) but according to court records he was not arraigned on any of these charges until October 23, 2020 when he went before Judge Susan I. Kettner in New Rochelle City Court.
Muhammad was back in court in Mount Vernon on the Marihuana and vehicle-related charges on September 3, 2020, according to court records.
Isa Muhammad was arrested on September 6, 2020 by New Rochelle City Police and charged with Criminal Possession of Marihuana – 4th (2 Oz). According to court records he was inexplicably arraigned on these charges three times: 10 days after his arrest on September 16, 2020 in front of Judge Jared R. Rice then again 9 days after that in front of Judge Anthony A. Carbone and 28 days after that in front of Judge Susan I. Kettner. He is even on the docket for a fourth arraignment next week.
Muhammad was back in court in Mount Vernon on the Marihuana and vehicle-related charges on September 8, 2020, according to court records.
Muhammad failed to appear in court in Mount Vernon on the Marihuana and vehicle-related charges on October 20, 2020. An active warrant was issued that day.
Isa Muhammad was pulled over two days later, on October 22, 2020, by New Rochelle Police. He was issued a violation of Unlawful Possession of Marihuana — 2nd and arrested based on the Mount Vernon Warrant. He was then arraigned on October 23, 2020 in front of Judge Susan I. Kettner in New Rochelle City Court and charged for the incidents from 2019: Criminal Possession Control Substance — 3rd and Criminal Possession Control Substance — 3rd:1 Gram Stimulant for the incident dated November 13, 2019 and Criminal Sale of Marihuana-4th and Unlawful Possession of Marihuana 2nd for an incident dated December 3, 2019.
The next day, October 24, a weekend, he was arraigned virtually on the Mount Vernon warrant in front of Judge Thomas Quinones of the Yonkers City Court.
Isa Muhammad testified against New Rochelle Police Officer Alec McKenna on Tuesday.
Talk of the Sound continues to have an active investigation underway, along with hundreds of Freedom of Information appeals and two pending lawsuits. As we get more information we will continue to report out the story.
These WS with facist proclivities need to be exposed as the white domestic terrorists that they are with guns and badges. Cowardly psychopaths !!!!