The civil rights lawyer tapped by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to chair the Civilian Complaint Review Board — which investigates the public’s complaints about police brutality — financially supports a federally funded legal aid group featured in a rap video depicting black men shooting a white police officer, according to
The Daily Signal.
Richard Emery’s law firm supports the Bronx Defenders, which bills itself as a holistic public defender’s office. The Bronx Defenders have received at least $1.5 million from the Obama Justice Department since 2009, according to The Daily Signal.
In a rap video released in early December entitled "Hands Up," two bandanna-wearing black men are repeatedly shown pointing handguns at a white police officer’s head.
The Bronx Defenders office has a cameo in the violent music video.
Story continues below video.
"The video for 'Hands Up,' which also shows a white police officer gunning down a black motorist wearing a hoodie, contains lyrics suggesting revenge for much-publicized deaths of black men in confrontations with police," The Daily Signal reports.
De Blasio appointed Emery to head the Civilian Complaint Review Board on July 17, the same day Staten Island resident Eric Garner, who was black, died after being placed in a police chokehold by a white police officer.
Emery scoffed at any notion of a perceived conflict of interest. He told The Daily Signal that the Bronx Defenders were "duped into participating" in the video, which he characterized as "reprehensible."
"BD does fine work as public defenders," Emery said. "That is why we support them."
"He accused The Daily Signal of 'doing [Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president] Pat Lynch’s bidding' to 'stir up' racial tensions," the website reports.
While the Bronx Defenders has said it did not know "the cop-killer video would contain images of police with guns to their heads," the group has declined to say if it knew the lyrics called for killing police officers.
"Hands Up" was released Dec. 3, two weeks before 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley ambushed NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu as they ate lunch in their patrol car in Brooklyn on Dec. 20. Both men were fatally shot.
Brinsley was found dead a short time later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a nearby subway station. He had been arrested at least 19 times and once posted on Instagram that he was going to "put wings on pigs," according to
U.S. News & World Report.
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