DA Drops All Charges in Videotaped Police Beating
All charges have reportedly been dropped against Ehud Halevy, the unarmed man beaten by Brooklyn police inside a Crown Heights youth center earlier this month.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes told reporters he was closing the case against Halevy, who was captured on videotape being pummeled by cops.
“After review of all available evidence, I have decided to dismiss the charges against Ehud Halevy,” Hynes announced Monday afternoon.
Outrage spread in the Jewish community and beyond after the videotape made headlines. It shows Halevy being beaten by two police officers, who apparently believed he was not supposed to be in the Aliya center.
An online petition calling for an investigation drew nearly 100,000 signatures. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly called the video “disturbing.”
Halevy had faced up to seven years in prison for supposedly assaulting the cops and resisting arrest.
“Justice was done here,” Halevy’s lawyer, Norman Siegel, told the Daily News. “There was no legal basis for the criminal charges and the dramatic video was extremely helpful.”
There was no word on any investigation into the officers’ behavior.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
