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Antwon Rose II was "confused and scared," he wrote in a poem in 2016.
"I see mothers burying their sons," he says. "I want my mother never to feel this pain."
On Monday, two friends of Antwon, 17, a high school student from Rankin, Pennsylvania, who was killed by a East Pittsburgh cop last Tuesday, struggled to read this poem, "I'm not what you think! " Family, classmates and friends gathered for Antwon 's funeral at his school, Woodland Hills Intermediate School, in Swissvale, Pa.
Antwon died after being shot three times while he was running from a vehicle during a traffic stop. Police said that he and another passenger had run away after an officer had stopped the Chevrolet Cruze in which they were located because it was thought that he had been involved in a shooting earlier. The driver was arrested, questioned and released later, police said.
A video that recorded the deadly shooting was widely viewed on the Internet, and it caused days of protests against another unarmed black teen killed by a police officer.
Antwon's father had a message for the protesters: "Keep fighting, do it peacefully."
At the funeral, in a crowded school auditorium, friends and family members shared Antwon 's memories, painting an image of a thoughtful and funny boy. He played basketball and excelled in the honors program at his school. He played saxophone.
At the request of the family, many in the crowd wore purple – a special color to Antwon.
"Antwon's death shakes my heart, it shakes my faith that things will get better or that the injustice will never end," said Gisele Barreto Fetterman, who met Antwon when he volunteered at the Free Store, a charitable organization that she founded. "Slowly, too slowly, things will become brighter, even if they are now so dark."
She told the mourners how difficult it was for her to talk about Antwon in the past. She said that she had wanted to encourage her to graduation, and was proud to have known as "a bright light".
S. Lee Merritt, who represents the Rose family, said in a telephone interview that "because of the close relationship between the Allegheny County County Attorney's Office and law enforcement local, he would ask the prosecutor to recuse himself and authorize the Attorney General. Department of Justice to sue Agent Rosfeld to avoid prejudices.
Attempts to reach Agent Rosfeld's lawyer Monday were not successful. Agent Rosfeld was put on administrative leave.
The Allegheny County Police Department, which is investigating the episode, has not released any new information on Monday.
A fundraising campaign to cover the costs of Antwon's funeral has exceeded its target, said Merritt, noting that Antwon's mother plans to start a scholarship in her memory .
During the funeral, Ms. Fetterman said in a later interview, that two friends from Antwon began reading her poem, which was printed on the program celebrating the life of the teenager.
"You could say that they were struggling," she said.
Antwon's mother stood with them on the stage and held their height and shoulders when they finished reading the poem:
I do my best to make my dream true
I hope it does
I'm confused and I'm scared
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