Judge releases known gang member after Facebook message threatening to shoot police
Judge releases known gang member after Facebook message threatening to shoot police
A Brooklyn judge has allowed a man accused of posting a message on Facebook threatening to shoot police officers to be released without bail, it was revealed today.
Devon Coley, 18, was arraigned Monday on a charge of making a terroristic threat just hours after officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were killed in an ambush by Ismaaiyl Brinsley who had signaled his planned attack online.
The New York Post has reported that Coley — who also is facing unrelated gun possession and other charges — posted a photo of a gunman shooting at a patrol car with the caption ’73Nextt.’
The ominous status update posted on Coley’s now-defunct Facebook account ‘MH Flossie’ was an apparent reference to the 73rd Police Precinct in his Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville.
It is not clear where the photo used in Coley’s post depicting a young black man firing into an NYPD car came from.
His lawyer told Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Laura Johnson Monday that Coley was not planning to follow through on the message. Prosecutors called the charges serious and sought $250,000 bail.
Judge Johnson called Coley’s posts inflammatory but released him without bail.
Dennis Quirk, head of the state court officers union, has condemned the judge’s decision to set Coley free.
‘She should resign from the bench,’ he told the paper.’ She is not fit to be a judge.’
On Sunday, police launched a search for Coley after becoming aware of his threatening Facebook message.
The NYPD circulated a ‘wanted’ poster describing the 18-year-old as a known member of the Addicted to Cash/180HII street gang.
Coley surrendered to police in the 73rd Precinct Sunday and reportedly confessed to writing the post.
According to reports, the teenager came into the precinct accompanied by his mother and told detectives he felt bad and was sorry for what he had done.
During his arraignment Monday, Coley’s attorney, Daniel Ades, called his client a ‘knucklehead.’
Prosecutors argued that Coley’s post went beyond youthful indiscretion, but Judge Johnson countered by saying that for her to set bail ‘because of the current climate’ would be a ‘misuse of bail.’
Police across the city have been on the lookout for possible copycat attacks on officers after the Saturday night ambush that took the lives of two of the colleagues, Liu and Ramos.
Cop killer Ismmayil Brimsley posted several messages on Instagram while driving from Maryland to New York Saturday, including, ‘I’m Putting Wings on Pigs Today.’
The Police Benevolent Association has issued a warning telling officers they should respond to every call with two patrol cars and avoid making arrests ‘unless absolutely necessary,’ reported ABC 7 News.
The head of the NYPD detectives’ union instructed members to work in trios, wear bulletproof vests on the street and remain vigilant.
