Dubious Charges in the Boro Park Riots
After the so-called Boro Park riots, Mayor Bloomberg accused the crowd of "putting people's lives at risk" though it is not clear in what way or how. To bolster their account of a real threat from the protesting Chassidim, two men were charged with assaulting police officers, Chaim Glick and Chaim Appel.
Chaim Appel's list of charges is truly massive. He is charged with two counts of attempted assault - one a felony - menacing, obstructing governmental administration, two counts of disorderly conduct, and one count of harassment. But as AnotherRuth of Hashemsforever has pointed out, all but the 'obstruction of government administration' charge which is a standard 'refusing to comply with police orders promptly' charge often used to arrest protesters were added at the arraignment. This is very strange since the supposed assault occured on the scene against a Sergeant. Under those circumstances it's hard to imagine why additional charges were only added during the arraignment unless they were being tacked on to create the illusion of a serious incident.
According to the DA's office the claim is that Chaim Appel 'kicked a sergeant in the leg in an attempt to trip him,' this is a confusing description at best. The DA's office admits the Sergeant was not hurt. Yet Appel was not charged with this until the arraignment itself. And the arraignment charges seen in this light are absurd.
Two charges of Attempted Assault with Intent to Cause Physical Injury, Violent Behavior and Harrassment. If there were such horrific charges to make against him why was the only charge that the police actually arrested him on was Obstruction, a charge that is further clarified when the arraignment tacks on the real charge of Refusing to Move.
It's easily imaginable that in a surging crowd a man might have stumbled against a police officer. This man may or may not have been Chaim Appel, because had it been Mr. Appel, it seems likely that the police would have known what to charge him with. Later on when the police were asked to tote up anything that might lead to some kind of charges, the Sergeant managed to recall his foot colliding with someone in the crowd and the charge was tacked on to one of the men who had been already arrested because odds are against the NYPD being able to tell one Chassid from another or caring to do so.
And so the justice system grinds on.