In Howard Beach New York, a jogger was brutally murdered and police went on an intense hunt for her killer, and still are today. As a part of their search, NYPD demanded swabs of DNA from black and latino men in the community. Around 360 men were questioned and harassed by the police department.

Daily News states, “The experience was not only humiliating for several of these men, in some cases their family members were harassed and intimidated by investigators, they claim. Legal experts, meanwhile, said the initiative likely violated the civil rights of the men who were approached, and is indicative of the NYPD’s “racially biased” policing tactics”

Some men repeatedly had the police knocking on their door, questioning them to the point where they were forced to move as their family members were worried NYPD was going to pin the murder on them. Other men were humiliated as their own neighbors had to witness them being questioned by police, which no longer established trust in the community, and caused people to be scared of their neighbors.

Police claim that the reason why they are questioning only black and latino men is because DNA at the crime scene pointed towards a black man being the suspect. Another suspicious aspect of the case is that the NYPD randomly got a list of 50 black and Hispanic men who were convicted of smaller crimes, therefore being the initial suspects of the case.

Altogether, this case is pointing towards racial discrimination for black and Hispanic people throughout the Howard Beach community, and it is not sitting well in the hearts of the people being harassed and other citizens who are witnessing it.