Community gathers in East Pittsburgh to remember Antwon Rose II 2 years after his death

Michelle Kenney said being a mom is all she knows how to be.

“I’m not a perfect mom. Lord knows sometimes I wasn’t even a good mom,” she told a crowd gathered in East Pittsburgh on Friday, two years to the day after a borough police officer shot and killed her son, Antwon Rose II, as he ran from a traffic stop.

“But I was always a mom,” she continued. “I never walked away from my kids, even if I wasn’t doing the best of everything. All I know now is to not walk away from my kids.”

Two years after her only son was killed, Kenney is using his name and memory to be a mom to as many as she can through the Antwon Rose II Foundation.

The foundation will work with area youth to help them experience some of the privileges her son had.

“He was able to travel. He was able to play sports. He was spoiled,” she said of Rose, who was 17 when Michael Rosfeld, then an East Pittsburgh officer, opened fire as Rose ran. “Every kid does not receive the love and attention that your kids might.”

The day was meant to be one of honor and remembrance — and one of change and action. Kenney and others, including state Rep. Ed Gainey, used the platform to champion House Bill 1664. The bill, cosponsored by Gainey and state Rep. Summer Lee, would amend the portion of state law that makes the use of deadly force justifiable if law enforcement is actively attempting an arrest.

“We’re fighting to change the use of force, and we need you,” Gainey said, voice booming without the aid of a microphone. “Right now, you see everywhere in the United States exactly what’s going on. For those who didn’t believe, the only way you can’t believe now is if your eyes and your mind and your heart won’t let you.”

.@RepGainey speaking in East Pittsburgh ahead of an event honoring Antwon Rose II, who was shot and killed two years ago by an East Pittsburgh police officer pic.twitter.com/2DTmzUJrOe

— Megan Guza (@meganguzaTrib) June 19, 2020

He called for a moment of silence to honor Kenney, who has battled and lobbied to make her voice heard. Earlier this week, she was in Washington, D.C., meeting with U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican, Kenney noted.

“He’s working on the same thing I’m working on,” she said, “so I don’t got no problem with taking a seat at that table.”

Gainey marveled at her strong will.

“She didn’t bury her son,” he said. “She planted him for a better tomorrow so that we can change the things that need to be changed.”