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, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
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.
