The Trial of Patrolman Thomas Shea

The true story that inspired Audre Lorde's 1975 poem -Power---a masterly, gripping, and true account of the tragedy of the early-morning shooting of a child and the trial of a policeman for murder that followed. Was it a case of mistaken identity or race hatred--or both?

It happened on the morning of Saturday, April 28, 1973, in Queens, New York, at around 5:00 a.m. In the pre-dawn dark, ten-year-old Clifford Glover was walking with his stepfather, Add Armstead, toward the auto salvage yard where Armstead worked, as they did most Saturdays. Patrolman Thomas Shea and his partner, Walter Scott, drove by in an unmarked car. The cops were on the lookout for a pair of armed robbers dressed similarly to Clifford and his stepfather, and stopped to give chase. Fearing they were going to be robbed, the man and boy fled. Shots were fired, hitting the boy. Patrolman Shea would become the first New York City cop in fifty years to be charged with committing murder while on duty.