HUNDREDS of Black Lives Matter protesters who were arrested for looting, vandalising and rioting across New York have had their charges dropped.
Protests that were sparked by the death of George Floyd, were disrupted by looters who caused serious damage to businesses.
Looters have pictured ransacking stores and clashing with police in a period of violence last June.
In the Bronx many store owners woke up to broken storefronts, shattered glass and stolen goods.
An analysis of NYPD data by NBC New York has showed that out of the 118 arrests that were made in Bronx in June 2020, most cases have been dismissed, a total of 73.
Another eighteen cases remain open and there are 19 convictions for lesser counts like trespassing, which carry no jail time, the report states.
The data shows that in Manhattan there were 485 arrests.
222 have now been dropped and 73 got lesser counts.
Another 40 cases involved juveniles and were sent to family court; 128 cases remain open.
Of the 485 cases just 128 remain open, with 40 cases involving juveniles and cases sent to family court.
Jessica Betancourt, the vice president of a local merchants association, who owns an eyeglass shop that was looted and destroyed along Burnside Avenue told the outlet: “Those numbers, to be honest with you, is disgusting.
“I was in total shock that everything is being brushed off to the side.
“They could do it again because they know they won’t get the right punishment”
Meanwhile, law enforcement expert and former NYPD Chief of Patrol Wilbur Chapman said that the district attorneys’ offices and the courts had “allowed people who committed crimes to go scot-free.”
“If they are so overworked that they can’t handle the mission that they’re hired for, then maybe they should find another line of work,” he added.
Deputy Inspector Andrew Arias, confirmed that long follow-up investigations were led in each case.
“We had to analyze each case individually and see if, in fact, we could prove the right person had committed the crime,” he said.
NBC stated that Bronx DA Darcell Clark declined repeated requests for an interview, as well as Manhattan DA Cy Vance whose office has been busy with a team of prosecutors investigating separate allegations of tax fraud surrounding President Trump’s businesses.
The outlet also noted an internal memo in which Vance says there were over 3,500 unindicted felony cases waiting to move forward in the courts that they have been on hold because of the pandemic.
Before dropping a case, Vance told his prosecutors to review defendants’ criminal histories, whether police could really place the suspect at the scene, and whether the individual caused “any damage to the store.”
Vance told his office, “For many of these commercial burglaries, you will be asked to reduce the initial felony charge to a misdemeanor and to dispose of the case … with an eye towards rehabilitation.”
A court spokesman told NBC that the decisions to dismiss cases were primarily made by the district attorneys.
“An application must be made by the district attorney or as they have done with hundreds of DATs, decline to prosecute them,” said Lucian Chalfen.
*story by The US Sun
