Teens express outrage over mass arrests last May

Brooklyn students rallied outside police headquarters Saturday to express outrage over the 2007 arrest of 32 teens. Charges have been dropped against 22 of the teens charged with disorderly conduct on

News 12 Staff

Feb 3, 2008, 12:29 AM

Updated 5,932 days ago

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Teens express outrage over mass arrests last May
Brooklyn students rallied outside police headquarters Saturday to express outrage over the 2007 arrest of 32 teens.
Charges have been dropped against 22 of the teens charged with disorderly conduct on their way to a Coney Island wake last May. While most of the teens will walk away with clean records, four are still left facing trials.
Protestors at the rally say if one of the teens was innocent, then they all are.
The arrests were made prior to a memorial for shooting victim Donnell McFarland. Police had said they received numerous complaints about possible gang activity. They also said the teens were taking up the entire sidewalk and walking on top of parked cars.
The teens, however, claim they were victims of racial bias. They told News 12 Brooklyn last year that they just wanted to remember a friend and that they had passes releasing them from school.
Rally organizers expressed hope that dialogue with police can be improved. The students say they feel like they are continually targeted because they are young minorities in a low-income area.


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