Utica, NY — Nearly 1,000 people shut down the streets of Utica on July 13 in response to the police killing of 13-year-old Nyah Mway. The protest occurred during the busiest weekend of the year, when the city hosts the Boilermaker Road Race, one of the largest 15K races in the country.
Utica Streets Shut Down by 1,000 During Justice for Nyah Mway March from Unicorn Riot on Vimeo.
The march started in Roscoe Conkling Park at the base of the city’s ski hill. The majority of those gathered, like Mway, were Karen — an ethnic group from Myanmar that the country’s army has been fighting for 75 years. Many in the crowd wore “Justice for Nyah Mway” t-shirts, or traditional Karen clothes.
Karen activists who have taken the lead in the dynamic Justice for Nyah Mway campaign stood beside Mway’s family as they delivered short speeches before those assembled. Mway’s older brother Thoung Oo fought back tears as he thanked everyone for coming.
Kay Klo, a Karen refugee and activist who helped organize the march, gave an impassioned speech. She spoke about the list of demands from the campaign which include that the three officers involved with killing Mway be fired, that an independent civilian review board be established, and that the city government “allocate city investments to community organizations for refugees and minorities to assist in providing recreation and resources for those communities.”
Young dancers performed the traditional Karen Don dance to honor Nyah Mway who, according to his family, loved the dance. Moments later, the demonstrators started to march, led by loud chants: “Do you feel ashamed when you hear my name? Nyah Mway! Nyah Mway!” One child held a sign that read, “I could be next.”
The march, which was unpermitted, quickly spilled into the Memorial Parkway, one of Utica’s main thoroughfares. Traffic was effectively shut down as the demonstrators walked two miles to Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC).
A Buddhist monk wearing a bright orange robe and holding a Buddhist flag on a pole led the way. Other demonstrators held signs, Karen flags, and banners. The symbols of the Karen National Liberation Army, a revolutionary group fighting to establish greater political autonomy for the Karen people in Myanmar, could be seen in the crowd.
Protests such as this are a rare sight in Utica. In the past, many demonstrations stuck to the sidewalks, were small in size, and often sought the permission of authorities through permits. But many young activists are pushing for a new approach.
Kay Klo told Unicorn Riot that she and other activists received pressure from “people in positions of power” in Utica “who wanted to stop the march.”
MVCC President Randall VanWagoner, City of Utica Chief of Staff Michael Gentile, and president of the Boilermaker Road Race Mark Donovan all reached out to Klo in the week leading up to the march.
“It was overwhelming and I was afraid I would make the wrong decision, but I followed the group’s decision and lead, and we made a collective decision,” said Klo, who refused to buckle under this pressure. “I was pretty annoyed and mad that they wanted to reach out to me because I was apparently going to ruin their big day,” she said, referencing the Boilermaker, “but they hadn’t stood up against police brutality or reached out to the family to offer their condolences.” She continued, “It showed me their true values and their true colors.”
The march ended in the main quad of MVCC, close to where the college was hosting an exposition for the Boilermaker runners. The presidents of the college and the race had pleaded with the activists to relocate the final site of the march where they would be out of sight, but activists continued with their original plan.
“It was empowering to see people coming out and trying to make their voices heard,” Klo told Unicorn Riot. “People in power and politicians were negating their experiences — it was important for people to speak. I hope we can work with that momentum moving forward.”
Klo and others kept that momentum going the next day during the Boilermaker. Dozens of spectators and runners wore Justice for Nyah Mway shirts, and several crossed the finish line holding signs.
Back at MVCC, as activists gave speeches in English and in Karen, a young woman who was sitting next to Mway’s father, Ka Lee Wan, started sobbing. The eyes of the man who had survived years of war in Myanmar, and squalid living conditions in refugee camps, only to end up in the U.S. where he was dealt the tragic blow of the death of his son at the hands of the authorities, looked calm. He reached out his arm to comfort the young woman.
