Brooklyn Boro

History Repeats: Thompson takes second stab at police brutality

November 10, 2014 By Charisma L. Troiano, Esq. Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth Thompson is set to take another stab at police brutality. Eagle file YouTube screenshot
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The Brooklyn district attorney announced his decision to bring criminal charges against two New York City police officers accused of beating an unarmed teenager with a service weapon. This is a significant decision considering the last time an NYPD officer was criminally tried for police brutality was in 2008.

But this is not District Attorney Kenneth Thompson’s first bite at the police abuse apple. Thompson, before his aspirations of being Brooklyn’s top prosecutor were formed, was a member of the prosecutorial team behind the seminal NYPD brutality case involving Abner Louima.

Thompson was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District in 2000, when he gave the opening statement before a Brooklyn federal jury in the case against the officers accused of torturing and sexually abusing Louima, a Haitian immigrant.

“It was one of the most important cases I’ll probably ever handle as a lawyer,” Thompson told the New York Post in a 2007 interview.   

Thompson was on the Louima case with current U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, Loretta Lynch. Lynch is rumored to be the next U.S. attorney general.   

More than a decade later, Thompson is at the front of another police abuse case, this time as Brooklyn’s D.A.

In early October, video was released of a police officer hitting a 16-year-old suspect in the face with a gun. The footage captured via surveillance video shows Kahreem Tribble apprehended by police after a chase in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Aug. 29.

It is unclear what transpired between the police and Tribble, but an officer is clearly seen punching Tribble in the face. It does not appear from the video that Tribble had a weapon. After the initial punch by the officer, Tribble is then shown with his hands in the air retreating backward and eventually collapsing to the ground.  As the video progresses, two officers are seen attacking Tribble, who is on the ground, and one officer is seen putting his gun back into his waist holster. 

Thompson’s investigation contends that Officer Tyrane Isaac swung the first punch to Tribble’s head as he places his empty hands in the air and falls back against a storefront gate. It is believed to be Officer David Afanador who runs up to the teen with his service weapon drawn and allegedly strikes Tribble in the mouth with his gun.  Officer Isaac, the D.A.’s Office asserts, is captured on video allegedly punching the teen several times in the face while he was on the ground. 

The accounts of brutality detailed in the Louima case stayed with Thompson years after the trial. “When Louima was dragged into that stall, I felt like all of us were dragged in there with them,” Thompson said in the 2007 Post interview. 

And while the abuse in the Louima case does not compare to the charges against Officers Isaac and Afanador, the importance of accountability still holds true for Thompson, the prosecutor.

“The vast majority of police officers uphold their duty to protect and serve and put their lives on the line every day to keep us all safe,” Thompson told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in an exclusive interview. “But if there are those who do engage in unnecessary force and brutality, as was found to be true in the case of Justin Volpe, then they must be held accountable because no one is above the law.”

Tribble’s attorney agrees.

“[Tribble’s] case is only the beginning,” Amy Rameau told the Huffington Post. “These cops are operating with impunity. They think they can run amok.”

Outside of Brooklyn, there is a nationwide discourse on police and the excessive use of force stemming from the August 2014 fatal shooting of Mike Brown, an unarmed black teen, by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.  In the aftermath of the Brown shooting, there has been increased intensity in tension between the Ferguson police and members of the community who held protests for a number of days following the incident. 

Thompson assures that events in Ferguson and elsewhere played no role in his decision to try Isaac and Afanador.

“It would be wrong to think that the charges were influenced by unrelated events,” Thompson said. “The charges against Officers Isaac and Afanador are based solely on the evidence.”

The evidence available in the Tribble case places it at a unique advantage over the Louima trial. The conviction of Officer Volpe was based largely on his guilty plea and the cooperation of other police officers. The case against Isaac and Afanador is largely based on video surveillance footage that captured the majority of the incident. 

The video, the officers’ attorney asserts, supports the officers’ use of force. 

“If you look at the video, [Tribble] is a much larger individual, it’s 2 in the morning, there is clearly a chase,” attorney Stephen Worth said in a CBS interview. “By its definition, a chase is not complying with police officers. If a police officer says ‘stop,’ then the person should stop. That’s not the case here. So that raises the officer’s apprehension level as to what to expect.”

Officer Afanador was charged with felony assault, misdemeanor counts of criminal possession of a weapon and official misconduct. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.  Officer Isaac was charged with misdemeanor assault and official misconduct. If convicted, Isaac faces a significantly less prison term of one year behind bars. 

Thompson assures that he has more than the video to support the charges against the officers. “The charges in this case were brought after a thorough investigation that went beyond a viewing of the video,” Thompson told the Eagle. 

It has been reported the D.A.’s Office is investigating other allegations of police brutality by Brooklyn officers. Thompson, however, was unable to comment on any on-going investigations or grand jury action. 

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