Storm Over Brooklyn

On August 23, 1989, 16 year old African American boy Yusuf Hawkins was innocently killed by an Italian mob in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Heavily covered by the media at the time, Hawkins' death sparked protest and a deep racial divide throughout Bensonhurst and New York City. On the 30th anniversary, this film revisits the tragedy through interviews with community leaders, Brooklyn citizens and parties related to the case, and extensive archival footage to uncover the impetus of Hawkins' death and highlight the systemic racism rooted within American communities still existing today.