Abner Louima (b. 1966 in Thomassin, Haïti) is a Haïtian immigrant who was assaulted and tortured by New York City police officers after being arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Haiti is a country situated on the western third of the island of Hispaniola and the smaller islands of La Gonâve, La Tortue (Tortuga), Grande Caye, and Ile a Vache in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba; the Dominican Republic shares Hispaniola with Haiti. ... Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he... The New York City Police Department (NYPD) , the largest police department in the United States, has primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. ... Brooklyn (named for the Dutch city Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1997, 30-year-old Abner Louima was married, had two children, and had been living in Brooklyn, New York for the previous six years. Although he had trained as an electrical engineer in Haiti, Louima worked as a security guard in a water-and-sewage plant in Flatlands, Brooklyn.^[1] Brooklyn (named for the Dutch city Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. ... NY redirects here. ... An engineers degree is an academic degree which is intermediate in rank between a masters degree and a doctorate; it is occasionally to be encountered in the United States in technical fields. ... Flatlands is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. ...

Arrest and torture

On August 9, 1997, Louima visited "Club Rendez-Vous", a popular nightclub in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Late in the night, he and several other men interceded in a fight between two women. The police were called and several officers from the 70th precinct were dispatched to the scene. There was a confrontation between the police and the patrons and bystanders involved in the scuffle outside the club. The responding patrol officers included Justin Volpe, Charles Schwarz, Thomas Bruder, and Thomas Wiese, among others. In the ensuing scuffle, officer Volpe thought he was struck by a "sucker-punch" and for reasons that remain unclear, identified Louima as his assailant. Volpe arrested Louima on charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration, and resisting arrest. August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... East Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. ... NYPD emblem The New York City Police Department is the largest police department in the United States, the largest municipal police force in the world, and has the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. ... Sucker Punch Productions is a video game developer based in Bellevue, Washington. ... In the criminal law of the United States of America, disorderly conduct is a name given to a rather ill defined crime. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Resisting arrest is a term used in the United States (and possibly elsewhere) to describe a criminal charge against an individual who has committed at least any one of the following acts: Eluding a police officer who is attempting to arrest the individual Using or threatening to use force against...

The arresting officers beat Louima with their fists, nightsticks, and hand-held police radios on the ride to the station.^[2] On arriving at the station house, he was strip-searched and put in a holding cell. The beating continued later, culminating with Louima being sexually abused in a bathroom at the 70th Precinct station house in Brooklyn. Officer Justin Volpe kicked Louima in the groin, then, while Louima's hands were cuffed behind his back, sodomized him with a plunger, causing severe internal damage to his colon and bladder that required several operations to repair. Volpe then walked through the precinct holding the bloody, excrement-stained instrument in his hand, indicating that he had "broke a man down." A club, cudgel, truncheon, night stick, or bludgeon is among the simplest of all weapons. ... A strip search is the stripping (removal of clothing, search of person, or personal effects) of a person to check for weapons or other contraband. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... François Elluin, Sodomites provoking the wrath of God, from Le pot pourri de Loth (1781). ... Common household plungers: to the left, a toilet plunger; to the right, a sink plunger A plunger (British English: plumbers helper) is a common device used to release stoppages in plumbing. ... Colon has several meanings: colon (anatomy) colon (punctuation) colon (rhetoric) See also Colón This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... In anatomy, the urinary bladder is a hollow, muscular, and distensible (or elastic) organ that sits on the pelvic floor in mammals. ...

Louima's teeth were also badly damaged in the attack by having the plunger jammed into his mouth.^[3] He testified to the presence of a second officer in the bathroom helping Volpe in the assault but he could not positively identify him. The identity of the second attacker became a point of serious contention during the trial and appeals. Louima also initially claimed that the officers involved in the attack called him a "nigger" and shouted, "This is Giuliani-time" during the beating.^[4] Louima later recanted this claim, and the reversal was used by defense lawyers to cast doubt on the entirety of his testimony.^[5] Nigger is a term used to refer to dark-skinned peoples, especially people of African ancestry or Negroid, and is regarded as an offensive slur. ... Rudolph William Louis Rudy Giuliani III (born May 28, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, businessman, and Republican politician from the state of New York. ...

The day after the incident, Louima was transferred to the Coney Island Hospital emergency room. Escorting officers explained away his serious injuries being a result of "abnormal homosexual activities". An emergency room nurse, Magalie Laurent, suspecting the nature of Louima's extreme injuries were not the result of gay sex, notified Louima's family and the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau of the likelihood of sexual assault and battery.^[2] Louima was hospitalized for two months after the assault. Coney Island Hospital is located in Brooklyn, New York City. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... The internal affairs (United States terminology) division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force. ...

Criminal trials

Volpe initially pled not guilty to several counts of violating Louima's civil rights, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to police.^[6] Midway through the trial, Volpe changed his plea to guilty, confessing to having sodomized Louima. Despite the fact that Louima had several broken teeth, Volpe denied that he ever struck Louima in the mouth with the stick and claimed that he only put it very close to Louima's mouth. Volpe also admitted that he had threatened Louima's life.^[7] On December 13, 1999, Volpe was sentenced to 30 years in prison, a $525 fine and restitution in the amount of $277,495.^[8] Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Modern Obstruction of Justice, in a common law state, refers to the crime of offering interference of any sort to the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. ... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Restitution is the name given to a form of legal relief in which the plaintiff recovers something from the defendant that belongs, or should belong, to the plaintiff. ...

Charles Schwarz was convicted on June 27, 2000 for helping Volpe assault Louima in the bathroom and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.^[9] At the time of his conviction, there were numerous questions raised about whether he could receive a fair trial in the highly charged atmosphere.^[10] Volpe identified Thomas Wiese, not Schwarz, as the second man in a recorded interview on news show 60 minutes, a fact not brought up in the trial. The sentence was overturned by 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a technicality.^[11] However, in 2002 he pled guilty to a perjury charge for testifying that he did not lead Louima to the bathroom, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. His request for leniency was rejected on March 30, 2006. He was released to a halfway house in February 2007 and plans to move to the Northern United States to work as a carpenter. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/nyregion/04schwarz.html?ex=1174017600&en=022f48b53ca5518e&ei=5070. Retrieved March 14, 2007.</ref> 60 Minutes is an investigative television newsmagazine on United States television, which has run on CBS News since 1968. ... The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: District of Connecticut Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York District of Vermont The Second Circuit hears argument at the Thurgood Marshall U... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Three other NYPD officers, Thomas Bruder, Michael Bellomo and Thomas Wiese were indicted for their involvement in trying to cover up the assault. On March 9, 2000, Thomas Weise and Thomas Bruder along with Charles Schwarz was convicted on the charge of conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation into the assault on Louima, but their conviction was reversed by a federal appeals court in February 2002 on the grounds of insufficient evidence.^[12] Michael Bellomo was found not guilty of trying to cover up the beating of Louima and that of another Haitian immigrant by Volpe earlier that evening.^[13]

Public reaction and aftermath

The incident provoked outrage among the Haitian and other minority communities in New York City, as well as nationally. On Aug. 29, 1997, an estimated 7,000 demonstrators marched on to the New York City Hall and the 70th precinct station house where the attack took place. The march was dubbed "Day of Outrage Against Police Brutality and Harassment."^[14] Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area...

The Abner Louima case was mentioned in the 1998 Amnesty International report on the United States of America among several other cases of reported police brutality, torture and abuse.^[15] Amnesty International also uses the incident as a case study on a treatise in the campaign against torture.^[16] 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) comprising a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.[1] Founded in the UK in 1961, AI compares actual practices of human rights with internationally accepted standards and demands compliance where these...

Mike McAlary, a New York Daily News journalist won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary for his exposé of the brutalization of Abner Louima by NYPD officers. ^[17] Mike McAlary (1957-1998) was a journalist who had worked at the New York Daily News for 12 years, following the police beat. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ...

Public condemnation of the attack was not universal. Fox News pundit Sean Hannity was one of Louima's biggest critics during the trial, charging that he had fabricated the rape — calling him "lying Louima" — and using interviews with people alleging Louima had past sexual relationships with men to bolster the claim that he had sustained his injuries during a "gay sex act." Hannity stopped using the "Lying Louima" epithet after Volpe confessed to sodomizing Louima with the help of another officer.^[18] Fox News Channels slogan is We Report, You Decide The Fox News Channel is a U.S. cable and satellite news channel. ... Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961, in New York City, New York) is a American conservative talk radio host, an executive producer of Fox News Channels program Hannity & Colmes, and the author of two books. ...

Louima's subsequent civil suit against the city resulted in a settlement of $8.75 million on July 30, 2001; the largest police brutality settlement in New York City history.^[19] After legal fees, Louima collected approximately $5.8 million from that amount.^[20] A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ... David Kirkwood on the ground after being struck by police batons Police brutality is a term used to describe the excessive use of physical force, assault, verbal attacks, and threats by police officers and other law enforcement officers. ...

In February, 2003, Abner Louima visited his family still living in Haiti.^[21] There he discussed the setting up of the Abner Louima Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the hopes to raise money to build a community center and much-needed hospital in Haiti. Louima indicated he had plans to use his own money and donations to open community centers in Haiti, New York and Florida for Haitians and others seeking legal, financial or other aid. Louima also paid the school tuition for 14 poor children in Thomassin, a small community where he grew up in. During his visit to Haiti, he met with the President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest that Louima knew from his schooldays. In a rare interview; Louima said he's convinced he can make a difference in his impoverished homeland, "Maybe God saved my life for a reason, I believe in doing the right thing."^[20] A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a goal to make a profit. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Louima currently resides in Miami Lakes, Florida,^[5] owning homes in suburban Miami and Port-au-Prince with several investment properties in Florida.^[20] Miami Lakes is a former census-designated place and incorporated town located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... This article is about the city in Florida. ... Categories: Caribbean geography stubs | Capitals in North America | Haiti ...

References

External links

• Duke Law Journal (48 Duke L. J. 1157) Prosecuting race by Anthony V. Alfieri
• McAlary, M. (1997.) They Saw Louima's Terror, New York Daily News - 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner for distinguished commentary.