By COLlive reporter
In an effort to keep the topic in the public eye, a group of Crown Heights residents are planning a protest against police brutality in the Jewish neighborhood.
The initiative was taken by friends of Ehud Halevi, the 21-year-old who was repeatedly beaten by 2 officers and jailed on the Jewish holiday of Shmini Atzeres last week.
COLlive.com was told that the Friday demonstration will begin at 2:00 PM from the Jewish Children’s Museum on Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue and march to the 71st Precinct on Empire Blvd.
An organizer states that it was a grassroots plan and not coordinated with any local officials or organizations.
Once at the precinct, they will be holding a brief rally, followed by a press conference.
“We are asking everyone to bring respectful signs calling for justice for Ehud,” the man said. “We are calling for the false criminal charges to be dropped and for the violent officers to be fired and brought to trial.”
The New York Police Department is keeping mum on the conduct of officers Luis A. Vega and Yelena Bruzzese, but an investigation has been opened by the NYPD and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
While security camera footage disputed the two officers’ claims that Halevi was criminally trespassing and assaulted them, the charges against him were not dismissed.
As COLlive.com reported Tuesday, noted civil rights attorney Norman Siegel will be representing Halevi.
If you can join the protest or offer assistance click here to like their FB page.
Can someone somewhere arrange a WORLDWIDE half day fast for Pollard and Rubashkin??
Pretty please!
…you can’t (and no one can) think of ONE who has/would come forward to report on another for brutal, illegal, scandalous behaviors, where there were no cameras! He who stands idly by is part of the very deep rooted problem. For this reason I suggest you direct your loathing of and demonstrations against ALL cops! If only we had videos of the things they say behind closed doors. You certainly wouldn’t hesitate to hate them all. The fair assumption is they are all rotten apples, except for a few. Not vice versa. Until they PROVE otherwise!
It seems #23 might be right?
What if one is preparing for Shabbos with family and guests? This involves, often, both wife and husband…no?
why friday shabbos is getting ealriler y not do it sunday
Is the stereotype correct that Jews tend to cower and shiver even when there is some JUSTICE that needs to be addressed?Look at the above- paralyzed with fear and scared.No one is saying all cops!!!They want to point out a senseless beating!!!!Wow Jews do tend to cower,tremble, always worried what THEY will think.Cowards for sure
in every group there are always a few hot heads who care not for the consequences of their behaviour & will engage in ANTAGANISTIC behaviour to score some attention or to blow off some steam!! well that kind of selfish behaviour is DISGUSTING bec it has the opposite affect of what we are looking to get, namely more security from better behaved cops NOT defensive nervous cops who are feeling ALL under attack!!! tov liheyot chacham velo tzodek! i know many many professional cordial decent cops in the 71st, lets not push some of them to feel animosity towards those… Read more »
We must grow the goodwill & boost the moral of the Decent cops,
to antagenise the decent cops by sounding like we are attacking ALL cops as unlawful is counterproductive & surely not accomplishing our main purpose in demonstrating!
our first & foremost goal is SAFETY from the hands of ruthless-thugs (whether thuggish-cops or hoodlums)
…..,
if you also want to protest in order to VENT that’s good too! so long as you do NOT undermine the first & most important GOAL, to increase & encourage good will between the force & the civilions they serve
Not against ALL cops!!
we are protesting the ROTTEN-APPLES!!!
we want to encourage the decent, disciplined & mature police on the force to Continue their great work!! & to have the courage to root out the Thugs that slip through!!
Please don’t turn this into a cop bashing protest. Its very important that our community maintains a good relationship with the police. Try to keep it specific to the terrible injustice done to our fellow. Dont get angry about the parking ticket you got last week and use this to vent about it.
Number 14 you put it in a great light- let’s just hope it stays this way (peaceful and not against the nypd as a whole) bc likely it will end up in a barrage of complaints abt the ppl we don’t wish to have bad relations w for this one specific case that does not apply to all of them and will just make them feel unappreciated. Number 15- let’s not mix two issues. Both valid, but utterly different.
The kiddush Hashem here is standing up and protesting for the rights of our fellow jew and not acting like sheeple and just accepting this thuggish act against us.
Remember, this is only one of these cases tha was caught on tape, there are definitely many more such instances and we must stand up for whats right and just.
Like the Torah says “lo saamod al dam raiecha” Don’r stand over you’re brothers blood
Do you understand that this is a good opportunity to show support for Rubashkin and Pollard also… can the organizers throw in a bunch of those placards asap?? Time is running. It is a mitzvah gadol to include everyone. No Jew shall be left behind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We the Jewish people have an obligation to do things the torah way. It was an unfortunate case for the boy but now we have the opportunity to show the world instead of protesting and creating malice against police – let’s rally to help them become better officers. Show the world the torah way and and maybe we can come together in order to light the world brighter and not make it darker. We were the chosen people – Let’s show them why…. But acting without rationale will only make a hillul hashem
Noone deserves a rally for doing their job they’re paid to do. The police get fat pensions, very decent pay etc. so to equalize staging a rally for them doing their job being equal to staging a demonstration when they abuse their job is absurd. Maybe we should stage a rally to support empire kosher’s cashiers for their long tireless work during the month of tishrei with more hectic hours…? get the drift?
Looking at the facebook group of those claiming to attend, I find it funny how it says “non violent” protest!!!
LIKE
stop being a chicken and trying to always please.
what about a massive protest in washington about rubashkin? it seems like the jewish leaders are mum about him,now is the best time before elections it will be a big impact and pressure for the white house including pollard as well!!! everyone is sleeping! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!
We are not trying to put anyone down here we are just asking for justice
what would have happened had there been no camera chas vi shalom everyone would believe the NYPD version of the story and Ehud would have been railroaded to prison
Great idea! If the organizers are following this thread, have them contact Yossi Stern…he has a lot of experience and many media contacts to organize demonstrations….
They will show up, I heard a report on WABC yesterday. You need to send out a press release. It’s very easy to do, just takes some time.
I’m a mother, this could have happened to any one of our kids wherever & whenever. The police have no problem ignoring us when we need help but they are there with all brute force if they can beat the soul out of us. I’m sure they responded to this “trespass” very quickly – how long does it take them to respond when Bochurim are mugged at gunpoint? Where are they on our streets apart from giving parking tickets.
And totally uneccessary! Though e1 deserves their justice, this is not the proper way to handle it! It can only cause more discontent between the nypd and the jewish community. The current commander is a Mentchlich person whom we would be unwittingly putting down with this protest.
I support this rally. But lets make sure to also organise a rally every year after Tishrei to thank all the officers for the great job they do!
I don’t think just his friends should protest.I think anyone who cares about “brutality” should be a part of this.Too bad I am many states away.I am not saying this is a hate crime or anything like that.The only point I make is that the police used excessive force after they woke the man up.Take a look at the punch he received.take a look at the beating.i don’t give a hoot whether he resisted arrest and I don’t see any real threat on his part.But the man was down and the beating continued!!!!Have some guts and protest.