Former police officer Francis X. Livoti was released from a federal prison in North Carolina on Friday after serving nearly seven years for violating Anthony Baez's civil rights by placing him in a chokehold that lead to Baez's death. Livoti, who was sentenced to 90 months, was released 352 days early for good behavior. He walked out of the Butner Federal Correctional Institution at 8:30 a.m. Friday, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Prisons said. Baez's death in December 1994 heightened racial tensions in the city when it was learned that Livoti had been allowed to stay on patrol despite dozens of civilian complaints, including some for excessive force. Shortly after the incident, Anemone angered the black and Latino communities when he said Livoti was "doing the kind of work that the citizenry of the city and certainly this country are looking for." On Friday, local civil rights leaders reacted angrily to Livoti's release and planned a protest rally for Monday at City Hall. "He is walking in the wrong direction and he should walk right back in that prison and do 15 years for manslaughter," said City Councilman Charles Barron (D-East New York). "This is a disgrace that the system would let him walk out of prison when he ... got away with murder." City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona), who is close to the Baez's family and is a retired police officer, said: "It is outrageous that someone who was found guilty of taking the life of someone in his official duties would be released so quickly. Unfortunately, the family will never be able to replace her son or fill that void that they have lost because of an out of control police officer who should never have been on our streets patrolling our city." [more] and [more]
- Protestors Call For End To Racial Profiling [more]
- City of New York agrees to $3 million settlement in police brutality case. The City of New York paid nearly $3 million to settle a group of lawsuits brought by the family of Anthony Baez. Baez, who lived in Florida and was visiting his family, was set upon by the police, apparently for the "crime" of hitting a police car with a football during a late-night family football game right outside their home. Francis X. Livoti, a cop with a record of at least nine previous complaints of brutality against him, used a choke hold against Baez which resulted in his death. [more]
- Mothers of the slain [more]
Today the family of Anthony Baez and a coalition including the Justice Committee and other groups will hold a rally at One Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan to remind people that police brutality is still a serious problem in New York City. The larger issue is that neither the death of Amadou Diallo nor the death of Anthony Baez was an isolated incident in this country. In fact, Anthony Baez`s death was eerily similar to a scene in the 1989 Spike Lee movie, "Do the Right Thing," which in turn mirrored real-life incidents of choke-hold deaths in New York and around the nation. Today`s rally reminds us that there are many people in this city who are still seeking justice. There are complaints that police officers harass and rough up Latinos and African-Americans, especially young men, with little or no provocation. There are complaints that police officers aren`t as quick to solve cases or seek justice when the victims are Latino, or African-American, or poor. [more]