This cop did no wrong
NYPD judge nixes CCRB accusation of misconduct during Floyd protest
A cop who loudly pushed back at a Civilian Complaint Review Board prosecutor during his trial on misconduct charges stemming from a 2020 George Floyd protest was cleared by an NYPD administrative law judge, the Daily News has learned.
Detective Junior Sesay yelled at a city CCRB prosecutor who accused him of intentionally driving his marked NYPD SUV through a group of angry Floyd protesters in Brooklyn.
“My life was in danger!” Sesay seethed on the witness stand.
After reviewing the case, NYPD Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Trials Paul Gamble found Sesay and his partner, Officer Desean Mullings, not guilty of abuse of authority and giving false statements regarding the May 30, 2020, protest near Prospect Park.
Gamble has sent his findings to Sesay’s and Mullings’ lawyers. Police Commissioner Edward Caban had not signed off on the paperwork last week, sources with knowledge of the case said. Caban has the final say in police disciplinary matters.
Police union officials have declared victory in the case.
“First, Detective Sesay and his partner were targets of a violent mob — and then targets of the cop-hating CCRB’s attempt to ruin a highly respected detective’s career,” Detectives’ Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo said Friday.
“The [Detectives’ Endowment Association] was proud to represent Detective Sesay to ensure he was exonerated — and now call on the police commissioner to endorse the findings of the trial.”
During his departmental trial Sept. 27, Sesay, who is neighborhood coordination officer for the 70th Precinct in Kensington, Brooklyn, challenged CCRB prosecutor Fredy Kaplan when questioned about the video that shows him slowly driving through a crowd of protesters.
“I wish you were inside the RMP [radio motor patrol car] when I was behind the wheel!” screamed Sesay, 39, a native of Sierra Leone.
Sesay and Mullings were transporting two men arrested at an earlier Floyd protest when their SUV was surrounded by protesters, who blocked the vehicle’s path with a metal barricade and bicycles, the officers said.
Video of the incident supported their story.
“Get ’em! Burn the motherf-----s!” someone can be heard screaming in the nearly two-minute long video clip, which shows the SUV, its lights flashing, slowly moving through the crowd, then briefly accelerating when the road ahead was clear.
Protesters were “just inches” from the SUV as people scrambled out of the vehicle’s path, according to Kaplan, who asked the department to fire Sesay and Mullings. Although none of the protesters filed a complaint, the CCRB accused Sesay of abuse of authority and threatening the use of force.
He was also accused of giving false statements to investigators. Mullings was charged only with giving false statements.
Sesay said he felt threatened by the protesters, who threw water bottles and other objects at his vehicle.
As the crowd grew, Sesay said, he recalled how his grandmother was killed on June 18, 1997, during the height of the Sierra Leone civil war.
“Because of a breakdown of law and order, my grandma was killed after she was thrown into a burning house,” Sesay said, tearing up.
As the police SUV rolled further down Flatbush Ave., protesters broke the SUV’s side and rear windows, according to the officers. Video presented at the departmental trial didn’t show the windows being shattered.
When the SUV finally stopped around Grand Army Plaza, Mullings recalled sweeping shattered glass off his prisoners, who were huddled in the rear of the vehicle.
“They were in total shock,” Mullings said. “The person on my side was visibly shaken and said, ‘I thought I would die.’ ”
An email to the CCRB regarding Gamble’s finding was not immediately returned. The NYPD wouldn’t comment on the case because the paperwork was not final.
“The disciplinary process remains ongoing,” an NYPD spokesman said.