Charges dropped against homeless man brutalized by NYPD

Video of the 21-year-old's vicious arrest in a Brooklyn synagogue center garnered national attention

Published October 23, 2012 2:28PM (EDT)

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):

 


By Natasha Lennard

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com.

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Arrest Brooklyn Ehud Halevi Nypd Police Brutality Synagogue