Students at The DreamYard Preparatory School in the Bronx staged a walkout Monday to honor 15-year-old Javits Frimpong and speak out against bullying and gun violence following his fatal shooting last week.
Friends and classmates described Frimpong as someone who brought joy to others and had a strong support system at school.
“I cried so much I can’t cry anymore. I’m drained. I can’t cry anymore if I tried to. I cried so much,” one student said.
Friends said Frimpong was known for making others laugh.
“He didn’t bother nobody. He comes to school trying to make people laugh. Trying to put smiles on people’s faces. Literally the day before he died I was with him on the basketball team. We were playing basketball together. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened the next day,” friend Ibrahim said.
During the demonstration, students repeatedly chanted Frimpong’s name as they gathered outside the school, which is located a few blocks from where he was shot and killed.
Frimpong’s father and friends said he had been involved in an altercation at school last week and had been bullied. They said two students were suspended.
“People say Javits didn’t have friends. He has friends. This school, he came and talked to us and talked to us like every day. Ask anybody. He would be with us every day. We would go down to lunch together,” one student said.
Some students said they related to Frimpong’s experiences.
“We had to go through the same thing he went through. From elementary to now. We deal with racism, colorism,” student Miriam Tourkire said.
Anna Agbotse, chair of public affairs for the National Council of Ghanaian Associations, said Frimpong’s death has deeply affected the Ghanaian American community.
“We all just simply endured it because we all just thought it was normal. Understanding that it wasn’t a great experience. We knew that it was bullying to some extent but we just felt like we had to go through it,” Agbotse said.
She added, “This is happening because everything about us is different. Our accent is different… our vocabulary is different, the way we present ourselves is different, we’re more humble.”
Police have made no arrests and are looking for three teenage boys in connection with the case.
“Right now, we’re looking at the possibility that the child was being bullied at school. We’re working with the Department of Education to verify that. But we’re also looking at two other aspects. Could this child have been the victim of a robbery gone bad, or was this a case of mistaken identity where a rival gang member thought he was the opposition,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Frimpong’s friends said the school’s principal did everything possible to address the incident at school and that they feel safe inside the building. They said their fears begin once they leave campus.
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