Scuffle could lead to charges
Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
jfitzgib@lohud.com
MOUNT VERNON - A simmering feud within the city's Democratic Party sparked a violent scuffle at party headquarters, and now prosecutors are trying to decide if anyone should be charged.
The party's vice chairman has already filed a harassment complaint in the June 8 fracas, claiming that City Council candidate and Democratic district leader Samuel Rivers tried to steal party petitions while carrying a gun - a weapon Rivers is licensed to carry and that was kept holstered.
But Rivers, an increasingly vocal critic of local leaders, said he was assaulted by three Democratic leaders for merely trying to do his duty as a district leader by picking up nominating petitions.
And he said police refuse to file assault charges against them.
"After taking two steps, I was attacked and wrestled to the ground," Rivers said at a news conference yesterday. "I suffered scrapes and bruises on both of my forearms, and also my shirt was torn. After I was able to get up, I told my attackers that the entire incident was recorded."
Ron Detres, the party's vice chairman and one of the men Rivers accuses of attacking him, countered that Rivers instigated it all.
"I don't use the word 'liar' very much," Detres said yesterday. "But I'm going to be on the record to say Sam Rivers is lying on this point. What occurred is he stole a petition packet with campaign literature from the table."
"I then went to retrieve that campaign packet from the table and a struggle ensued in trying to recover that packet," he said. "That's what occurred."
The incident was just the latest run-in Rivers has had with party leaders this year, which has put him at odds with local politicians.
In February, he tape-recorded a conversation with mayoral aide John Boykin, claiming Boykin threatened him with retaliation for being disloyal to the party.
Rivers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Boykin and the city, but it was later withdrawn by his attorney, Jonathan Lovett.
He said he also was assaulted by a Young supporter in April inside the city courthouse, but added that police and the Westchester District Attorney's Office refused to file charges in the case.
Rivers said the latest incident proves that he is targeted by party leaders. He said that is why he tape-records all his encounters with officials, as he did June 8.
According to Rivers' account, he was merely picking up nominating petitions that he would carry as a local district leader. When Detres refused to let him carry the petitions because he does not support the slate, Rivers said, he grabbed some from a nearby table. That's when he was tackled and wrestled down, he said.
"This is the third incident that the Mount Vernon police have failed to investigate," Rivers said yesterday. "No one is being investigated, and things are just being pushed under the rug."
Mount Vernon Police Commissioner David Chong said his department got a call from the scene and dispatched an officer.
"As far as we're concerned, we took everybody's statements, we assigned a detective to the case and we brought it upstairs," Chong said. "And at this particular time, the district attorney has not decided whether they want to press a charge or not."
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for District Attorney Janet DiFiore, declined to comment.
"We're certainly not ignoring him," Chong said of Rivers. "This is not a game that we're playing with this particular individual here. This is a professional police department. We don't have time to play his games."
According to the harassment complaint Detres filed, Rivers "states he is a lic. firearm carrier and states he had his firearm w/him." Detres said that concerned him.
"He had a gun, and I do not know if he's licensed to carry that gun, or if he just has a target permit," Detres said. "Therefore, it is incumbent on me as an officer of the Democratic Party to make sure that all members who come up are protected."
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rivers.movby WestchesterGuardTV327 views
what a bunch of idiots
12sam091 2 years ago