Civil rights attorney Ron Kuby fired off a letter to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on Monday asking his office to pursue charges against NYPD officers who used excessive force against Occupy Wall Street protesters last fall. "The DA's Official Corruption Unit, which is responsible for this investigation, seems more interested in pursuing hypothetical police officers with possible ties to prostitutes than with prosecuting actual police deputy inspectors for brutality," Kuby writes.
Represented by Kuby are two of the protesters who Deputy Inspector Tony Bologna pepper-sprayed in September, and Felix Rivera-Pitre, the man who was sucker punched by Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona (for shooting him "a look") in October. Kuby is asking Bharara to prosecute the officers under 18 U.S.C. § 242, which would mean that the protesters' rights were infringed "under color of law," in this case law enforcement officers.
"No credible defense of their conduct has been asserted," Kuby writes, "and the outright lies of Deputy Commissioner Browne have been conclusively refuted….Someone needs to send a message that the conduct engaged in by Bologna and Cardona is criminal."
You can read the entire letter below.
