Cops brazenly lied to put 16-yr-old in jail
In January, a Bronx teenager’s gun went off, injuring an officer.
Camrin Williams, reported the New York Times, had been fleeing the scene. “Court documents say Mr. Williams was running from the police late on Jan. 18 while carrying a loaded 9-millimeter pistol in the waistband of his pants. As he fled, the gun went off, hitting the Officer Pennant, who was treated at a hospital.”
A few days later Williams was released on bond. Mayor Eric Adams issued a statement declaring he was “outraged” and demanded changes to the bail law. PBA head Pat Lynch warned the young menace would … shoot another cop while awaiting trial for shooting one cop?
“He chose to fight with and shoot a New York City police officer. There’s no reason to believe he won’t do the exact same thing when he’s out on the street tonight,” Lynch said.
Headlines blared warning that a “Teen rapper” was freed after shooting a cop.
Several months later, Williams was back in court (so bail worked). The presiding judge, Naita Semaj, had strong words—but not for the 16-year-old, but the two officers involved in the incident. The judge slammed the cops for “incredible and unreliable” testimony with “no value” after viewing footage of a video of the encounter, the Daily News reported.
Semaj noted that the teenager had fully cooperated and that the gun had gone off, by accident, when the officer moved to illegally search him and both officers started grabbing his sides. “While there is no disputing the fact that Mr. Williams had a gun on him that night...” she said. “He literally does everything you tell your child to do when they’re approached by cops. He literally kept his hands up. He literally tried to record to make sure there was proof. He answered questions he had no obligation to answer.”
The 16-year-old is headed to family court, an unlikely outcome if there hadn’t been video evidence and the judge had bought the officers’ story. Meanwhile, giving false testimony is a fireable offense. Let’s see how serious Mayor Adams is about holding officers accountable.