NY district attorney indicted for cover-up in police shooting of an unarmed black man

In Justice Today reports that a grand jury in New York indicted District Attorney Joel Abelove Friday afternoon on charges related to his behavior in a case investigating the police shooting of an unarmed Black man. 

The indictment stems from Abelove’s concealment of evidence about the shooting of an unarmed black man by a Troy police officer, and allegations that Abelove lied during a subsequent investigation. According to the indictment, Abelove repeatedly interfered with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s efforts to investigate the killing of 37-year-old Edson Thevenin, who was shot eight times by police sergeant Randall French following a traffic stop gone awry.

The case argues that Abelove, a Republican, explicitly tried to get the police officer to escape culpability for his actions by jamming up Schneiderman’s efforts and even lied to a grand jury about his deplorable behavior. The evidence is pretty compelling; it looks like Abelove didn’t care about the truth or justice—he just wanted police sergeant Randall French to get away with killing 37-year-old Edson Thevenin. 

If found guilty, Abelove faces up to seven years in prison and a fine up to $5,000. He’s also up for re-election next year.