BROOKLYN — More than five months after a run-in with police at his Brooklyn apartment that left Jabbar Campbell bruised, bloodied, and in handcuffs, the Crown Heights was cleared Wednesday of assault charges stemming from what he has called a homophobic attack this January.
Campbell was arrested on Jan. 13 after police from the 77th Precinct came to break up a LGBT pride party at his Sterling Place apartment. He was charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest, and slapped with drug charges for marijuana and Ecstasy cops said they found in his pockets.
The drug charges were later dropped, the New York Daily News reported.
The arrest sparked outrage from New York's LGBT community after bloodied pictures of Campbell began circulating on the internet.
"We need to speak up and let these officers know that they can't go around invading people's homes, tampering with their property and beating up innocent people," Campbell told a crowd of protesters at a rally outside the precinct in January. "I was brutalized by these officers from the 77th Precinct and I'm here to speak up and fight back."
Now that he has been cleared of the assault, Campbell told the News he plans to go forward with a suit against the NYPD and the city for the alleged attack.
Yet, at an unrelated press conference on Thursday, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly stood behind the arrest.
"I believe there was probably cause in that case," Kelly said. "Probable cause is enough to make an arrest, and then it’s up to the District Attorney to go further.”
