Good morning.
It’s been a long, sleepless week. Election Day has turned into Election Week, and will probably drag out with myriad litigation involving votes.
We know you want to keep refreshing the live results and see whether a winner is declared–obviously, we do too–so this week’s edition of Allegedly will be short.
But please do try to enjoy our roundup of New York City crime and courts news. You need a break before returning to election news, social media, and everything else. And don’t forget to subscribe!
The Allegedly List
- William Rashbaum and Alan Feuer report that an anti-harassment honcho in the New York Police Department was accused of posting racist rants on a message board notorious for its rancor. This cop, who purportedly went by the online moniker “Clouseau”–yes, an apparent reference to the Pink Panther character– was Deputy Inspector James F. Kobel, authorities reportedly alleged. Kobel vehemently denied the allegations that he posted on The Rant, a site for members of service. Via New York Times
- The first criminal trial in the Bronx that was going to proceed since mid-March was canceled because of four Covid-19 cases in courthouse workers. This week, three court officers and an interpreter had positive coronavirus tests, spurring the Office of Court Administration to postpone the proceeding. Officials reportedly said they were “unrelated disparate reports that have nothing to do with the buildings.” Via New York Daily News
- There have been three consecutive nights of protests in New York City since Tuesday — with at least 70 arrests and allegations of police misconduct. There were instances where NYPD officers kettled protesters, pushing them off the street and surrounding them, before making arrests. One woman was charged for allegedly punching a cop Wednesday, while another was collared for spitting at a cop’s face. The woman arrested for spitting reportedly said that officers incited this incident and allegedly broke her arm while arresting her. Via Gothamist, The Wall Street Journal,The New York Times, New York Post (Read Allegedly’s explainer on your right to protest here.)
- Rudy Giuliani’s associate, who’s indicted for allegedly shuttling campaign contributions to pols and Trump super-PACs, was allowed to leave home detention so he could vote on Election Day. Lev Parnas had asked Manhattan Federal Court Judge Paul Oetken for permission to “travel to his local polling place on November 3, 2020, in the company of his two sons, Aaron and Daniel, to vote.” Giuliani allegedly recruited Parnas and one of Parnas’s co-defendants, Igor Fruman, to find damaging intel on Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Via New York Post
- Tekashi 69’s kidnapper, Anthony Ellison, was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison on Wednesday, plus five years supervised release when he gets out. Ellison was convicted in October 2019. The guilty verdict came down following a trial in which Tekashi, real name Daniel Hernandez, snitched extensively against his former gang associates. Via Vulture
- Timothy Shea, one of Steve Bannon’s co-defendants in an alleged scheme to skim donations from a border wall fundraiser, name-dropped King George III in a push to move his upcoming trial to Colorado. George III was the King of England when the then-colonies declared and won independence. “Among the enumerated ‘…injuries and usurpations’ attributed to George III compelling the Fathers of the Republic to declare their independence from the sovereignty of Great Britain was: ‘For transporting us beyond the Seas to be tried for pretended offenses,’” Shea’s lawyer, John Meringolo, wrote Thursday. Via SDNY court documents