Buffalo GOPer urges Cuomo to ‘bring it on’
AUTHORITIES are investigating a group of Jersey City cops after video emerged of the officers kicking and beating a man while he was on fire, according to reports on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old West New York, N.J., man is “fighting for his life” with severe burns and facial injuries after the Sunday incident, a friend told NJ.com
Cops were chasing another man, 48-year-old Leo Pinkston, who was involved in at least two separate automobile crashes, according to prosecutors. Officers opened fire on Pinkston before he crashed into a utility pole and the car driven by the 28-year-old victim.
The video shows the man rolling out of a car engulfed in flames. Several officers, some with weapons drawn, surround the man and one of them begins kicking him. The rest join in, and can be seen dragging the man away from the fire and onto the street.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the innocent victim and his family,” said Hudson County prosecutor Esther Suarez. “We will utilize all resources available to the prosecutor’s office for a full and thorough investigation as we seek to bring this matter to a rightful conclusion.”
Pinkston faces charges of aggravated assault and eluding police, prosecutors said.
The officers in the video haven’t been named, but Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said they will be fired and potentially prosecuted for their actions.
“This is unacceptable,” Fulop tweeted. “We’re IDing officers. We’ll pursue termination + criminal charges as appropriate.” ALBANY — A day after being targeted by Gov. Cuomo, a Buffalo Republican congressman tore into the governor, telling him to “bring it on.”
“He’s a thug, he’s a bully, he’s a blackmailer, and an extortionist, and that shows in how he deals with our Assembly and Senate,” said Rep. Chris Collins.
Collins noted his district is heavily supportive of President Trump and that Cuomo received only 34% of the vote within the district when he ran for reelection in 2014. And he hit Cuomo for ongoing federal investigations into the governor’s signature upstate economic development programs.
“Let’s hope he continues to go after me,” Collins said. “That will just energize my district.”
Cuomo’s hand-picked state Democratic Party executive director, Basil Smikle, shot back by noting that Collins is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for his role in seeking investors for an Australian biotech company he is heavily invested in.
“Tough talk from an inside trader who sells out his constituents left and right,” Smikle said in a statement. “Here’s a tip for Collins that won’t trigger an investigation: New Yorkers aren’t stupid.”