(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Furor Erupts Over Killing of Witness in MS-13 Gang Case [1]

['Ed Shanahan', 'Jesse Mckinley']

Date: 2020-02-05

[Update: The police commissioner’s claims were called into question after an examination of court records.]

In October 2018, Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez stepped in to protect two boys who were being threatened by members of the MS-13 gang on Long Island, officials said. In return, the gang members stabbed Mr. Rodriguez repeatedly and hit him in the head with a bat.

Despite the vicious assault, Mr. Rodriguez agreed to testify against the gang members, who were charged with assault and witness intimidation as a result of the attack, officials said.

On Sunday, Mr. Rodriguez was found beaten to death outside a home in New Cassel, N.Y., and on Wednesday, his killing became a new flash point in the debate over criminal justice changes enacted by the New York State Legislature in 2019 at the urging of progressive lawmakers.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/nyregion/ms-13-long-island.html

Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.