N.Y. to Drop Most Firefighters' Charges
— -- New York City will drop most charges against protesting firefighters, and a dozen people who claimed they needed help because of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks have been charged with stealing money from the American Red Cross.
Charges to Be Dropped Against Most Protesting Firefighters
N E W Y O R K, Nov. 10 — Authorities are dropping charges against all butone of the 18 firefighters arrested after a raucous protest at theWorld Trade Center site, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said today. The firefighters were arrested after five police officers wereinjured during a Nov. 2 rally, in which firefighters protestedtheir numbers being reduced at the site. The one case that will not be dropped involved a firefighteraccused of hitting a police officer, Giuliani said at alate-afternoon City Hall press conference. That firefighter'sidentity was not immediately known. The other cases mostly involvedcriminal trespassing and harassment, the mayor said. Giuliani said he came to the decision in part after meeting withsome families of firefighters killed in the disaster. "What happened at ground zero . . . is unacceptable. I am very,very hopeful it will not happen again," said Giuliani, a formerfederal prosecutor who said he is generally opposed to droppingcharges in criminal cases. "But we want to be able to put thisbehind us, so we can move ahead." Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said the chargeswould be dismissed and would not appear on the firefighters'records. Morganthau said he made the decision "in light of theextraordinary heroism of the firefighters and police departmentmembers at ground zero, and the stress on the families,particularly on the widows and children." The charges are expected to be dropped on Tuesday; courts areclosed Monday because of the Veterans Day holiday. Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who had been incensed overthe scene of firefighters clashing with police officers, took aconciliatory tone on today. "We saw firefighters and police officers working side by sideday and night and they have been doing so for several weeks in anattempt to either rescue or recover members of our respectivedepartments," he said, standing alongside Giuliani, Morgenthau andFire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen.
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