Marking the fourth anniversary of the shooting of Gideon Busch, family and friends gathered at the site in Borough Park to recite poems and prayers, while politicians called for a new investigation of the incident.
Busch was gunned down by police officers who said he charged at them with a hammer after they answered a disturbance call. Witnesses said Busch posed no threat to the cops, and a forensic expert is expected to concur in a civil trial this fall.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes Borough Park, called on the Justice Department to investigate whether Busch’s rights were violated. "No more deliberating, no more delays," he said outside the basement apartment on 49th Street where Busch lived.
Borough Park Assemblyman Dov Hikind called a report by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau on the incident "a farce" because, according to a copy he obtained, investigators simply asked each officer if they colluded in their account of the shooting, then accepted their answers of "no."
"Would you ask someone accused of rape if they did it, and if they said no, that’s the end of the story?" Hikind asked. "This is a very sad joke."
In addition to the Police Department, a grand jury in 1999 also declined to bring charges against the officers.
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