Activism CAN Work

All those protests and rallies about the NYC gay men falsely arrested for prostitution at the city's adult bookstore have seen results. Duncan Osborne at Gay City News reports on the latest development:

Activists who met with Robert Morgenthau report that the district attorney said he would investigate the 2008 prostitution arrests of at least 30 gay and bisexual men in at least six Manhattan porn shops, and may dismiss the cases against five of the men who are contesting the charges. "The first thing Morgenthau said was, 'We are going to investigate all these cases,'" said Joey Nelson, coordinator for the Queer Justice League and a member of the Coalition to Stop the Arrests. "That was the first thing out of his mouth."

The March 6 meeting lasted roughly an hour, and included coalition members, elected officials or their representatives, community groups, and Leroy Frazer, the executive assistant district attorney for governmental affairs and community relations. "They were going to go back and start looking at all the individual cases," said Robert Pinter, also a coalition member and one of the men who was arrested last year. "They really seemed genuinely concerned that something wrong was happening here."

In addition to the investigation into NYPD's campaign, activists want the five men who plead guilty to have their pleas vacated, the charges dismissed, and then for the cases to be sealed.

NYPD's Internal Affairs Now Investigating False Arrests At Porn Shops

Saturday's protest at Mayor Bloomberg's UES home has drawn the attention of the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau which is now looking into the allegations of false arrests of gay men at the city's adult bookstores. The most vocal victim of the campaign, Robert Pinter, was visited at his home by the IAB early this week. Via Duncan Osborne at Gay City News:

Pinter was visited by two IAB detectives at his East Village apartment the evening of February 15. The officers, identified by Pinter as a Lieutenant Hickey and a Sergeant Prentice, told him that the "differences" between his account of his arrest in press reports and that given by his arresting officer had prompted the inquiry. Pinter, who spoke with the two officers for no more than 15 minutes, said they told him, "We need to talk to you before we can launch the investigation." The two officers also asked Pinter if he was going to sue the city.