Crime & Safety

Months Later, Chamberlain Case Gains International Audience

New information has columnists and Twitter audiences from all over talking about the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.

People all over the world are talking about Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.

This week news outlets and social media all over the world are discussing a comment that the 68-year-old possibly made before his death that has sent interest in the five-month-old case through the roof.

"My name is Kenneth Chamberlain. This is my sworn testimony. White Plains Police are going to come in here and kill me."

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Those are the words Democracy Now reported earlier this week Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. muttered into his Life-Aid medical alert system before police entered his apartment in the early morning hours of November 19. Though the actual audio from the Life-Alert system has not been made public, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. told the news outlet during an interview he heard the saying during a private meeting with Westchester County District Attorney Janey DiFiore.

Chamberlain Jr. also said during the interview that police directed racial slurs at his father before breaking down his apartment door. He went on to contend that his father was unarmed.

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The public statements made to several media outlets has quickly fueled conversation on social media forums like Twitter, where the story has been mentioned hundreds of times every hour throughout the day Tuesday. Some published reports are now comparing the Chamberlain case to the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin in February.

Police have identified the shooter in both cases—George Zimmerman in the Martin case and White Plains Police officer Anthony Carelli in the Chamberlain case—and no charges have been filed.

More than 204,000 people have signed an online petition regarding an upcoming Grand Jury hearing about the Chamberlain Sr. case and a afternoon rallying for justice in both cases.

Police have maintained that Carelli of Chamberlain's apartment at 135 S. Lexington Ave. in White Plains. According to police, Chamberlain acted violently toward officers, threatening them with a knife and hatchet. Police said Chamberlain was about to stab an officer at the scene when he was shot.

But the Chamberlain family has disputed those accounts for months, and an and the information the Chamberlain family has sent to the media has fueled speculation as to what happened that day.

To what extent the Martin and Chamberlain cases relate is arguable at this point, but there is at least one thing the cases have in common. The spike in international attention to the stories took place months after the shootings. Chamberlain's case went viral only recently, although the shooting took place back in November.

A man who called himself a friend of the Chamberlain family was handing out flyers outside of the White Plains Federal Courthouse only a month ago, asking reporters following another case for more coverage of the Chamberlain shooting.

It looks like his wish has been granted.


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