By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
- New York City — A former NYPD lieutenant who suffered a broken orbital bone during a July 15, 2020Brooklyn Bridge clash blasted a judge’s decision to give one protester 50 hours of community service after a misdemeanor conviction. Police1
- Case outcome: Judge April Newbauer convicted Shaborn Banks, 31, of third-degree assault but acquitted him of felony charges tied to the most serious injury; prosecutors had sought 364 days. Police1
- Victim: Lt. Richard Mack (ret.), a 26-year NYPD veteran, says the injury forced his early retirement and called the sentence “repugnant.” Police1
- Co-defendant: Quran Campbell pleaded guilty earlier and received a two-year prison sentence for assaulting an officer during the same incident. Police1
NEW YORK — A retired NYPD lieutenant injured during a 2020 confrontation on the Brooklyn Bridge criticized a Manhattan judge’s decision to sentence one of the men involved to 50 hours of community service, saying the punishment trivializes an attack that fractured his orbital bone and ended his police career. Police1
The defendant, Shaborn Banks, 31, was found guilty of third-degree assault last month and sentenced Monday by Justice April Newbauer. Banks had faced a slate of felony counts brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, but the judge acquitted him of the most serious charges after a bench trial, concluding he was not primarily responsible for the grievous injury to Lt. Richard Mack, according to reporting carried by Police1/The New York Daily News. Prosecutors had asked for 364 days behind bars. Police1
Mack, a 26-year veteran who retired following the injury, denounced the outcome outside court. “It should have been felony assault… I deserve justice,” he said, accusing the judge of bias against officers. The clash unfolded on July 15, 2020, during a volatile moment in the citywide demonstrations following George Floyd’s killing. Police1
Banks’ attorneys argued for leniency, saying video showed he threw a punch only after being struck and that another protester—Quran Campbell—was responsible for the blow that fractured Mack’s eye socket. Campbell earlier pleaded guilty in a related case and received a two-year sentence. Police1
Assistant District Attorney Austin Minogue told the court that, even with the felony acquittals, Banks inserted himself into a chaotic confrontation that contributed to injuries forcing a veteran officer from the job—what prosecutors called a loss for the department and the city. Police1
The ruling closes one of the final prosecutions stemming from the bridge melee, but debate over accountability and proportional sentencing in protest-related violence continues among New York’s law enforcement community and civil liberties advocates. Police1