In an interview two months ago with ABC News, Kelly was unapologetic.
“The stark reality is that a crime happens in communities of color,” Kelly told “Nightline” Anchor Bill Weir. Black and Hispanic residents “are being disproportionately victimized.”
Scheindlin’s ruling crashed into a summer heavy with the overheated battle to replace Bloomberg after 12 years in charge at City Hall.
City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a longtime Bloomberg critic and Democratic candidate for mayor, was quick to declare victory in the judge’s words.
“The courts have just affirmed facts that too many New Yorkers know to be true: Under the Bloomberg administration … millions of innocent New Yorkers — overwhelmingly young men of color — have been illegally stopped,” de Blasio said. “The overuse and misuse of stop-and-frisk hasn’t made New York a safer city, it has only served to drive police and community further apart.”