Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Sept. 1 that her office will file a motion with the supervising judge of Bronx Criminal Court to dismiss more than 300 summonses issued for disorderly conduct and violation of a prevailing emergency curfew during a large protest that took place in the Bronx on June 4, 2020. Protestors were decrying the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020.

 

         Clark said, “I believe in and encourage our Bronx residents to raise their voices to protest social and racial injustice in a peaceful way. I said back in June that I would not prosecute protestors simply for violating the curfew. While my office does not prosecute summonses, I will file a motion with the court to dismiss theses summonses, which were issued June 4 in the Mott Haven section [of the Bronx], in the interest of justice.”

 

         Clark said that her office is moving forward with prosecutions of those charged with serious offenses such as burglary, looting and assault related to protesting, particularly on June 1, 2020 in the Fordham section of the Bronx.

 

         The motion to dismiss the various summonses dated June 4 will be filed on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020.

 

Clark added, “The people who received these summonses are due back in court on them on October 2, 2020. As the COVID-19 virus is still very much with us, and the courts are trying to limit in-person appearances, I believe it serves no purpose to summon hundreds of people to the courthouse for low-level violations. These unprecedented times require prosecutors to be flexible as well as compassionate.”