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Brooklyn DA Calls for Special Grand Jury in Cop Sodomy Claim
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 27, 2008
Modified Oct 27, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 27, 2008
Modified Oct 27, 2008
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Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes a special grand jury will look at the claims of a Brooklyn man who says five police officers beat and sodomized him with a police radio antennae at a subway station. Hynes said, "On the basis of preliminary conclusions of the early stages of my investigation and a review of the medical evidence concerning the allegations that Michael Mineo was brutally assaulted by four police officers I have ordered a special investigative grand jury to be empaneled."
The NYPD has maintained that there was no wrong doing by its officers (however Internal Affairs is investigating). The similarities--and differences--to the 1997 police brutality incident where Abner Louima was sodomized by police officers, at a stationhouse, using a broken broomstick are examined by the NY Times today. One former federal prosecutor from the Louima case said, "As bizarre as the Louima assault was, this is even more bizarre. What cop in their right mind would sodomize a person in the middle of the day, in front of everyone?”
But Louima's lawyer Sanford Rubenstein said the excessive police force is, "along with racial profiling, it is the civil rights issue of this era." And Louima himself told the Daily News, "All I have to tell him is to hang in there; he's not alone. It does surprise me that this is happening 11 years after. We knew this was not something that's going to go away in one day. Something needs to be done. Major changes need to be done."
Tagged
abner louima
cop sodomy
cop sodomy claim
michael mineo
nypd
prospect park station
subway
subway sodomy
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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