One of the more than one dozen hasidim, most believed to be Shomrim members, who attacked Taj Patterson in 2013 has had the charges against him dropped more than two years after the gang assault took place in a case Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson, who has become very close to Satmar since his election in 2013, seems to be unwill to bring to trial.
Above: Taj Patterson after the assault
Charges Dropped Against Second Hasid In Brutal Assault Against Gay Black Man
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
A gang of about 15 Shomrim members and hangers-on allegedly savagely beat Taj Patterson, a 20-year-old gay Black Fashion Institute of Technology student who was walking home at 4:30 am December 1, 2013 after a party. The attack took place on the edge of the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, a Satmar hasidic stronghold, and was witnessed by several people, including a city bus driver.
Cellphone photos of the attack and the cars of the assailants were taken by witnesses, but no arrests were immediately made, and an informed source told FailedMessiah.com that Shomrim members went door-to-door in a several block radius after the attack and took security camera footage and other possible identifying evidence. The NYPD is allegedly aware this obstruction of justice took place, but it made no arrests of the hasidim who allegedly did it.
Patterson lost vision in his right eye from the attack.
Police also claimed not to know anything about the crime when contacted by FailedMessiah.com in March 2014, more than three months after the attack even though a police report was filed and evidence had – supposedly – been collected.
Eventually, five of the attackers were arrested. But one of them were senior Shomrim members even though senior Shomrim members allegedly participated in the attack.
Charges against one of those hasidic men, 29-year-old Aharon Hollender, were dropped in March. Then Friday, charges against another of the arrested hasidic men, 27-year-old Joseph Fried, were quietly dropped, the Daily News reported today.
“We are dismissing this case in the interest of justice,” the Brooklyn DA's prosecutors reportedly said in court Friday after the sole witness who identified Fried recanted, the same reason the charges was dismissed against Hollender.
Witnesses in cases against haredim are often harassed and are sometimes bribed, and longtime former Brooklyn DA Charles J. Hynes equated the haredi community’s behavior to the behavior Mafia.
The three remaining defendants – Abraham Winkler, 40, Mayer Herskovic, 22 and Pinchas Braver, 20 – all reportedly have scheduled court dates in February.
Related Posts:
Charges Against Man Who Allegedly Intimidated Witness Against Satmar Child Sex Abuser Dropped.
Shomrim Members Allegedly Obstructed Justice In Taj Patterson Beating Case.