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| Mayor Bill De Blasio and Reverend Orlando Findlayter |
de Blasio on pastor arrest: Phone call was ‘absolutely appropriate’
, Feb 13, 2014Mayor de Blasio on Thursday defended his decision to ring an NYPD boss about a pastor pal’s arrest, saying the controversial call was “absolutely appropriate.”
De Blasio also wouldn’t rule out making similar calls in the future, saying such decisions are “made on a case by case basis.”
“It’s absolutely appropriate if I make an inquiry,” de Blasio told reporters, addressing for the first time the criticism that he’d used his influence to help a political benefactor who’d been instrumental in delivering black votes for the mayor.
De Blasio insisted that the phone call he made to a police spokeswoman on behalf of pastor Orlando Findlayter — who was sprung from jail soon after the call — was merely an above-board request for information.
“A prominent member of the clergy was facing an unusual situation,” he said of Findlayter, who’d been pulled over Monday night in East Flatbush for turning without signaling.
Findlayter was being kept in custody due to his having a suspended license and two open arrest warrants for failing to go to court after an October bust at an immigration protest.
De Blasio appeared impatient and dismissive in turn as he spoke to reporters during a press conference on the snow emergency, held at the Office of Emergency Management in downtown Brooklyn.
The mayor said he had found out about Findlayter’s arrest from an aide, Emma Wolf, and then “made an inquiry’ with NYPD spokeswoman Kim Royster.
He stressed that the decision to release Findlayter came from the precinct commander. “The precinct commander made a professional decision,” based on the fact that the open warrants were only for a civil disobedience arrest, he said.
The precinct moved independently and quickly, the mayor said. “By the time I even got an answer the decision had been made,” he said.
“I thought the police commander handled it well,” he added.
De Blasio also stressed that he did not call Police Commissioner Bill Bratton over the matter.
The mayor’s call on behalf of Findlayter — essentially a pastor without a bricks and mortar church after he fell behind in his rent at his New Hope Christian Fellowship church in East Flatbush — has been widely condemned as a tacit instruction to cops to let his buddy go.
Mayor de Blasio calls a top cop after pal arrested — and then the friend is freed
Mayor de Blasio spokesman Phil Walzak confirmed that the mayor called a top police official early Tuesday morning to find out more about the arrest of Bishop Orlando Findlayter, a member of Mayor de Blasio’s transition team, who was wanted on two outstanding warrants.
By Tina Moore , Jennifer Fermino AND Bill Hutchinson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, February 11, 2014, 6:27 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 12, 2014, 11:20 AM
A church pastor with outstanding warrants — and a position on Mayor de Blasio’s inaugural committee — dodged a night in the slammer after Hizzoner made a call to one of the city’s top cops.Bishop Orlando Findlayter, 50, was released from custody early Tuesday after de Blasio inquired about his status.
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It was not clear how many other prisoners were released without seeing a judge that night, but people with warrants are usually held until the matter is cleared up in court.
Sgt. Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the minister should have gone to jail.
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| Bishop Orlando Findlayter is out of jail after his arrest Monday on outstanding warrants stemming from the clergyman's involvement in an immigration reform protest. |
“We don’t let you go. You’re not supposed to let them go. It’s a court order from a judge,” he said. “We can’t circumvent that. This is not a common practice. But I get it. I realize you’re the mayor and you got all kinds of friends.”
Still, cops and de Blasio deny Findlayter got special treatment in this bizarre story that reads like “A Jail of Two Cities.”
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| Pro-immigration reform activists Bishop Orlando Findlayter and Sister Susan Wilcox are led to a police van after being arrested in October during a protest outside the ICE Immigration Detention Center. |
The mayor made the call after members of a local clergy council contacted him and the NYPD after Findlayter’s arrest.
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| Bishop Orlando Findlayter (left) was arrested Monday for outstanding warrants related to his immigration reform protests in October. |
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| The church of Bishop Orlando Findlayler, who was arrested Monday after a traffic stop, leading to cops discovering two outstanding warrants. |
By then, it was too late to take Findlayter to Brooklyn arraignment court before it closed at 1 a.m.
Following de Blasio’s call, Royster spoke with Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lehr, commander of the 67th Precinct. She said Lehr had also been contacted by local clergy. The inspector was already at the stationhouse preparing to give the pastor a desk appearance ticket when she spoke to him, she said. Royster said Lehr told her: “‘Why have a clergyman in the command in jail overnight?’” Lehr, who has worked with Findlayter on community issues, personally released him.
“Did the mayor in any way persuade or say anything to whether or not this person would be arrested or released? Not at all,” Royster said. She added “it’s not unusual” for her to get calls from city officials about individuals taken into custody.
Findlayter, who could not be reached for comment, appeared in court Tuesday and the warrants were vacated, officials said.
With Chelsia Rose Marcius and Kerry Burke