Homeless man brutalized by NYPD files federal suit

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:40:00 +0000

Last fall, we reported footage released of NYPD officers brutalizing a shirtless, shoeless homeless ban who was sleeping (with permission) in a Brooklyn synagogue youth outreach center.

21-year-old Ehud Halevi was beaten and pepper sprayed, as security camera recordings show, spent four days in prison and faced a string of charges including felony assault on a police officer -- charges which were later dropped when the district attorney reviewed the disturbing video. This week, Gothamist reports, Halevi filed a federal lawsuit against the NYPD with the help of famed civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel. Siegel, the former director of the NYCLU told the Gothamist that he is confident Ehud will be awarded compensatory damages. He told the site:

Charges dropped against homeless man brutalized by NYPD

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:28:00 +0000

Salon reported last week on disturbing footage captured at a Brooklyn synagogue outreach center, showing a shoeless, shirtless homeless man brutalized by two NYPD officers. Despite having permission to sleep in the Crown Heights community center, the 21-year-old man, Ehud Halevi, was charged with trespassing, assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and harassment.

Video of the arrest caught on a security camera was passed to a local news site and soon garnered viral attention. On Monday, according to the AP, The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said all charges were being dismissed against Halevi. Meanwhile, "the officers are under investigation by the New York Police Department's internal affairs unit and the district attorney's office," the AP reported.

Watch the video of Halevi's arrest below via CrownHeights.info (Warning: Graphic):

Salon.com > Ehud Halevi

Homeless man brutalized by NYPD files federal suit

Charges dropped against homeless man brutalized by NYPD