But if the allegations are true in the case of several fishy incidents in Brooklyn, it could throw a monkey wrench into dozens of cases of illegal gun possession in the New York City borough.
In just three cases in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, police say they were tipped off by anonymous sources that suspects had illegal guns, but the weapons just happened to appear, and every single time they were wrapped up in plastic bags or handkerchiefs as if conveniently delivered to the police. No fingerprints were ever found linking the suspects to the guns, and the police haven’t been able to find any of the informants they say tipped them off.
The Brooklyn Defenders Services, which represents people who can’t afford an attorney, say the police are telling a tall tale, and they wouldn’t be surprised if law enforcement officers are collecting and keeping the $1,000 reward money for tips on illegal guns. New York’s Legal Aid Society, which provides free attorneys to indigent clients, says it’s reviewing their cases of illegal gun possessions.
In one case, one man was jailed for a year awaiting trial and eventually pled guilty in exchange for time served. The judge in that case called law enforcement’s side of the story “incredible,” and that one of the detectives was evasive on the stand. In another case, a judge said they believed the officers lied under oath. The cases are under review and the police say they are looking into the officers’ behavior.
These allegations first uncovered by the New York Times could mean a completely different outcome for a number of cases, including that of Kimani Gray, a black teenager fatally shot by plainclothes cops in March 2013 who officers said was in possession of an illegal gun, even though his fingerprints weren’t on the gun found with him. His death set off protests and clashes with police, especially after a Brooklyn grand jury decided not to indict the two officers involved in his shooting. His family has since filed a civil lawsuit against the city, arguing he never had a gun.
— Maria C. Fernandez (@MariaN904) December 18, 2014
This is the same area of New York City were two police officers were gunned down execution-style in their patrol car just days before Christmas, in a case that authorities say is one man’s retaliation for the deaths by police of two unarmed black men in Missouri and New York.
