The gun charges filed against NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov have been dropped after authorities investigating her for displaying it in public discovered that the firearm didn’t actually work.
Vernikov was charged last month after flashing the weapon on her waist during a pro-Israel counter-protest against pro-Palestinian students, in violation of a New York law barring guns at “sensitive locations” which include protests.
The councilwoman was not arrested at the rally, but voluntarily turned herself in the next day and handed the gun over to authorities. Several weeks later, investigators examined the gun and found that it was missing a part – the recoil spring assembly – rendering the firearm inoperable.
As a result, charges against Vernikov have been dropped, because she was essentially carrying a toy gun around.
“In order to sustain this charge, it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the weapon in question was capable of firing bullets,” said Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “Absent such proof, we have no choice but to dismiss these charges.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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5 Responses
Maybe it was taken out at a later time?
This doesn’t pass the smell test.
If it really was not a working gun, don’t you think that would’ve been her main talking point regarding the situation?
Is it possible that either she agreed to give up some political leverage (less likely in my opinion) or that the prosecutor realized that if this went to court there was a solid chance she would be able to get NY state’s new “sensitive locations doctrine” thrown out under the NYSRPA V Bruin precedent (more likely in my opinion)?
Since when do the prosecutors in NYC care about the facts?
For them it’s usually about headline generation and make the person they are targeting try and deal with the grueling and expensive process of proving their innocence.
So Vernikov had custody of the gun for several weeks after she was spotted carrying it in public. That is more than enough time to disable it. Sounds fishy to me.
And isn’t Vernikov the goalie for the New Jersey Devils?
Baruch Hashem