A Black Liberation Army member convicted of killing two New York City police officers will be released from jail next month.
“We are furious with the cowards and lunatics who claim to lead this state. Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo and the state legislature have spent years torturing crime victims, especially the hero families of fallen police officers,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said. “They knew that changing the parole guidelines would unleash more vicious killers like Anthony Bottom back onto our streets. They have chosen to stand with the murderers, coldblooded assassins, and radicals bent on overthrowing our society.”
“We have now seen 16 cop-killers released in less than three years. We will continue to see more unless New Yorkers wake up and speak out against the madness being done in their names,” he added.
Bottom has spent the last 43 years behind bars for the killings of Officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones in 1971. He will be released from prison on Oct. 20.
“We are heartbroken to see another of Joe’s killers set free by politics. But more than anything else, we are angry,” Piagentini’s widow, Diane Piagentini, said in a statement of his release.
Two other members of the Black Liberation Army were also convicted in the killings, with one dying behind bars in 2000 and the other being released in 2018.
The release comes amid a surge in anti-police sentiment across the country sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Amid riots and protests against police brutality this summer, a defund the police movement has also grown, including in New York City.
Mayor Bill de Blasio defunded the New York Police Department by $1 billion this summer, redirecting the funds to programs such as youth initiatives and social services.
“I’m excited to say we have a plan that can achieve real reform, that can achieve real redistribution, while, at the same time, ensure that we keep our city safe while we make sure that our officers are on patrol around where we need them around this city,” de Blasio said in June.
