
Thompson beats Hynes in DA race; Integrity a concern for both sides

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Heather J. Chin
Bronx-born Kenneth Thompson cemented his historic victory over 23-year incumbent Charles J. Hynes for the position of Brooklyn district attorney after a surprisingly contentious election season that began with Thompsons surprise win in the Democratic primary.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the unofficial results have Thompson ahead with 74.7 percent (222,348) of the votes and Hynes, running on the Republican and Conservative lines, with 25.2 percent (74,943) of the votes.The landslide victory didnt surprise some of the DA-elects staunchest supporters, who described the former federal prosecutor as a man of integrity, values, experience, heart, vision, intelligence and drive.It is a tremendous night, said Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries, a long-time friend and supporter of Thompsons who was among the volunteers, family, friends and politicians at Thompsons election night party in Clinton Hills Sanders Studios. He will do whats necessary to keep Brooklyn safe and respect the civil rights and civil liberties of this community.In his victory speech, Thompson, 48 — the first person to unseat a sitting DA in over 100 years, and also the first African-American Brooklyn district attorney — said he was extremely grateful and deeply humbled to be given the chance to tackle wrongful convictions, illegal guns, gun and domestic violence, and overuse of stop-and-frisk, as well as to bridge the distrust between law enforcement and the community.We must end the belief in no-snitching, which allows [offenders] to prey upon us, he said, adding that he ran for DA after being inspired by Brooklyn, Shirley Chisholm, his wife, his pastor, his faith and his goal of creating a Brooklyn DAs office based on fairness and integrity.Integrity was also a major platform point for the Hynes campaign, with volunteers wearing red t-shirts emblazoned with white lettering declaring Vote for Integrity. Re-Elect Charles Joe Hynes for District Attorney.Hynes has always believed in in-treatment, not incarceration, said Donna Mae DePola, a mental health and substance abuse treatment advocate who founded The Resource Training Center in Sunset Park. Hes smart, knowing that you cant give too many chances before reining them in, but you do need to first give them a chance.Geoffrey Davis, of the James E. Davis Stop Violence Foundation in Crown Heights, noted that Hynes has been passionate and aggressive in addressing gun and domestic violence and well continue to work with them on projects such as Project Safe Surrender, the Youth Courts, and Back on Track.Davis, whose brother, former Councilmember James Davis, was shot to death in 2003 inside City Hall by a political rival, responded to Hynes critics by saying that anytime you run a huge organization and actually have a resume, youll be criticized. Hynes is 99 percent good. He has helped tens of thousands of adults and youths over the year.In recent years, however, Hynes has been faced with concerns about wrongful convictions within the Brooklyn D.A.s office and allegations that he did not adequately pursue allegations of sexual abuse in Brooklyns Orthodox Jewish community.The Brooklyn DAs office is one of the largest and busiest in the country, handling over 80,000 cases a year.Leave a Comment
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