Brother of Delrawn Small, the Police Brutality Case You Didn't Hear About: 'Everybody's Life Matters'

In East New York, Brooklyn, on the same block where Delrawn Small was shot and killed by an NYPD officer, Small's brother Ali Dempsey reflected on the tragic death.

"I'm just here to represent my brother," Dempsey told AlterNet at the wake for Small, who died July 4. 

"My brother was a nice heartful cat," he said, while surrounded by Small's children. 

For Dempsey, police departments can only truly be reformed if officers live by the simple, but often overlooked golden rule: Do unto others. 

"You go home to your wife, your kids... do you want this for your wife, do you want this for your kids? Would you want your wife to get shot down in the street for no reason? Would you want your kids to get shot down in the street for no reason?" Dempsey said.

"You've got to live by example, teach by example. Whatever your values are in life, you teach others your values in life, and then you spread your love," Dempsey said, and added, "You can't really oppress people or just kill them out of nowhere just 'cause you just felt a certain kind of way at that moment."

Dempsey also shared his views on the Black Lives Matter movement spurred by high-profile police brutality cases around the country.

"I'm not here to just bash this one, bash that one," he said. "I don't care about 'whose lives matter,' these lives matter," Dempsey said, in response to recent outcry by legislators against the controversial movement. 

"Everybody's life matters," Dempsey said, "because in all reality, if your daddy, your mother, your brother gets incarcerated," who will the burden of providing for the family fall on? 

Ali Dempsey says he and his brother Victor Dempsey are demanding justice for the murder of their brother, Delrawn Small.