A former Brooklyn district attorney bureau chief now vying to become the borough’s next top prosecutor claimed Wednesday he had “mounting evidence of corruption” within the current DA’s administration.
The announcement comes just a day after ex-prosecutor Marc Fliedner and Acting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez faced off in a debate alongside the four other Democratic candidates ahead of the Sept. 12 primary election.
Fliedner, who successfully prosecuted former NYPD officer Peter Liang in 2016 for the shooting of unarmed Akai Gurley, issued a statement announcing he planned to reveal “mounting evidence of corruption in the administration of Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez since the passing of District Attorney Ken Thompson.”
Thompson passed unexpectedly from cancer in Oct. 2016, only a week after handing over the reigns to Gonzalez and revealing his diagnoses.
Fliedner claims to have “documentation of the culture of corruption inside the current DA’s Office,” cryptically noting that the information “must be put before potential voters in the hours before this crucial election.”
“Particularly before community members in housing developments like the Pink Houses, where Akai Gurley lost his life, who be most impacted by this pattern of corruption,” the statement added.
Fliedner claims to have evidence of “discriminatory treatment” of people of color arrested for low-level offenses, discriminatory bail practices, failing to hold police accountable, and influence of big-money campaign donors.
The candidate will be joined by Gurley’s aunt, Hertencia Peterson, for the Friday announcement, to be held at the Pink Houses.
Gurley was fatally shot by Liang as the rookie officer vertically patrolled the darkened stairwell of the Pink Houses in 2014. He was convicted of Manslaughter 2, but the charge was downgraded to criminally negligent homicide after Thompson publicly recommended no jail time.
Liang was sentenced to five years probation and 800 hours community service, which he has since completed.
