Press Release Archives - NYC Anti-Violence Project

AVP, Trawick Family and coalition outraged at decision to not fire officers who killed Kawaski Trawick

April 13, 2024

On Friday, NYPD Commissioner Edward Cabán issued a late day press release announcing the two officers who killed Kawaski Trawick in his home nearly five years ago will not be fired for causing his death. “We are angry and dismayed at the decision to not fire the two officers who entered Kawaski Trawick's home nearly five years ago and killed him within a matter of seconds. This shameful decision by Commissioner Cabán shows a blatant disreg[...]

Announcing NCAVP expansion and invitation to 2024 Initiative Information Sessions!

February 23, 2024

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs invites organizations, agencies, and programs that support LGBTQ+ survivors of any violence to attend information sessions on NCAVP 2024 focus initiatives, with opportunities for further engagement in collective strategies and action. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has been a consortium of organizations dedicated to addressing violence of all types against LGBTQ+ and HIV-affect[...]

A special announcement from AVP’s Executive Director and Board

February 20, 2024

Dear Members of the AVP and LGBTQ+ Communities, Today, we share with you the news that AVP’s Executive Director, Beverly Tillery will be stepping down after eight years of dedication and service to survivors of violence, and the greater LGBTQ+ community. Her last day at the organization will be July 31, 2024. We are excited to celebrate Bev’s leadership and AVP’s accomplishments during her tenure and to begin the search for the next dynami[...]

AVP applauds the passage of key community-driven public safety bills by New York City Council

December 21, 2023

The two bills passed by the New York City Council aim to increase oversight over NYPD by requiring record-keeping for police stops and prevent senseless deaths at Rikers Island by limiting the use of solitary confinement. The ban on Solitary Confinement in city jails is the result of years of activism by a coalition of family and loved ones, organizations and stakeholders including AVP, which was loud in its advocacy for justice in t[...]

Cameron Esposito, Qween Jean and Our Lady J announced as 2023 AVP Courage Awards Honorees

October 17, 2023

Cameron Esposito, Qween Jean and Our Lady J are trailblazers and changemakers for LGBTQ+ community who will be honored this year at AVP’s Courage Awards in New York. (New York) The New York City Anti-Violence Project, the nation’s largest anti-violence organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ survivors of violence, is proud to announce this year’s honorees for its annual Courage Awards celebration. The 2023 Courage Awards will be held on[...]

September 25, 2023

New York, New York - Four months after the disciplinary trial against Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis for the 2019 killing of Kawaski Trawick, the NYPD deputy commissioner who oversaw the trial recommended that the charges against the two officers be dismissed. Trawick, a 32-year-old Black gay man, was cooking in his own Bronx apartment when officers broke the chain on his door, illegally entered his apartment, and then tased and sh[...]

AVP Responds to Announcement of Arrest in the Death of O’Shae Sibley

August 4, 2023

The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) and our communities are in a compounded state of grief and mourning today. Over the past several days our communities have laid bare their pain and trauma for the world to see in response to the death of O’Shae Sibley. We have witnessed an outpouring of emotion, questions, demands, and truths about the state of our world. This arrest does not acknowledge the underlying issues of violence that our[...]

AVP Issues Statement Concerning Recent Supreme Court Decisions

June 30, 2023

The New York City Anti-Violence Project issues the following statement concerning recent Supreme Court decisions rolling back progress on equal rights and accommodations. In the past two days, the United States Supreme Court has taken dangerous steps toward the recent trend of institutions re-enshrining discrimination into law and away from acknowledging and addressing the impact discrimination has on the rights, protections, and safety of a[...]

AVP responds to multiple incidents of anti-LGBTQ vandalism in New York City

June 21, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 21, 2023 (New York) As we approach NYC Pride weekend, the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) calls on New Yorkers to help keep our city safe for all. The recent destruction of Pride flags at the Stonewall Memorial and in Queens is part of a disturbing trend of increased anti-LGBTQ+ violence occurring across the United States, and unfortunately, in our local communities. Vandalism, threats and protests against L[...]

Joint response from LGBTQ+ organizations Anti-Violence Project, CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ+ Centers, and Equality Federation on Biden-Harris Administration Announcement on Actions to Protect LGBTQI+ Communities

June 8, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 8, 2023 (New York) The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), a national leader in anti-LGBTQ+ violence prevention and the coordinator of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, CenterLink, an international nonprofit organization and member association of LGBTQ+ organizations, and Equality Federation, an LGBTQ+ advocacy accelerator rooted in social justice, issue this joint statement in response to the se[...]

AVP Condemns NYPD Violence Targeting Safety Marshals at “Care, Not Criminalization” March

May 26, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 25, 2023 AVP strongly condemns the violence the New York City Police Department inflicted upon community safety marshals on May 24 at the “Care, Not Criminalization” march. The event brought together advocates from across the city—including AVP — to call for the City budget to support social services and community-led safety work instead of increased policing. Members of Communities United for Police Reform (CPR[...]

NYPD Trial Judge Weighs Tossing Illegal Trespass Charge In Discipline Case of Officers Who Killed Kawaski Trawick

April 14, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- Friday, April 14, 2023 MEDIA CONTACTS Kristine Mikkelsen, kmikkelsen@spitfirestrategies.com, 908.304.4869 Eliel Cruz, press@justicecommittee.org, 770.608.8725 Orie Givens, communications@avp.org, 212.416.5603 New York – Today, exactly four years to the day that Kawaski Trawick, a Black gay New Yorker, was killed by NYPD officers in his own home - and a week before the discipline trial is scheduled to begin -[...]