WHITE PLAINS -- The son of a 68-year-old man shot dead by White Plains police called today for criminal charges in the case.

"I don't want a manslaughter charge; I want a second-degree murder charge," Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. told about 150 supporters and community leaders this afternoon in the Thomas H. Slater Center.

Chamberlain and lawyers for his family said they would demand justice in a case they called racist, based on recordings of the Nov. 19, 2011 encounter at the elder Chamberlain's apartment 135 S. Lexington Ave. The family and attorneys said that on the recordings, an officer can be heard cursing at the elder chamberlain and calling him a racial slur shortly before the man was shot. Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. died two hours after the shooting at White Plains Hospital.

Video and audio of the encounter was captured by a stun gun used by one of the 12 officers who responded to the call; by a security hallway security camera; and by a medical alert device connected to a telephone that had summoned police in the first place.

The device had gone off in error, the Chamberlain family and attorneys have said. When police arrived, Chamberlain told them he did not need them, the attorneys said.

After the shooting, White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong said police had broken down the door to enter Chamberlain's apartment because they were not sure whether anyone else inside was in danger. He said Chamberlain attacked officers with a hatchet and a knife.

Randolph McLaughlin, a civil rights lawyer representing the Chamberlain family, said a recording shows the senior Chamberlain "standing in his boxer shorts, his hands by his side, not charging or threatening anyone."

Chong did not immediately respond to a call to his cell phone this afternoon.

Organizers encouraged those attending the event to write to Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, urging that all the recordings be made available to a grand jury reviewing the case.

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Published March 10, 2012