What They Are Saying: NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association, Other Groups, Join In Opposition To Third Circuit Nominee
WASHINGTON – Joining numerous other law enforcement organizations that recently urged the U.S. Senate to oppose Adeel Abdullah Mangi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, three additional law enforcement organizations have also submitted letters opposing his nomination.
In letters to various Senators, the organizations highlight Mangi’s role on the advisory board of the Alliance of Families for Justice (AFJ), an organization with a convicted cop-killer on its founding board that has described other convicted cop killers as “freedom fighters.” One letter also highlights Mangi’s ties to Rutgers University Center for Security, Race and Rights, which sponsors events featuring anti-Semitic speakers, individuals who whitewash violence against the State of Israel, terrorist sympathizers, and advocates of domestic radicalism.
Sergeants Benevolent Association of the New York City Police Department
“Over the years, Mr. Mangi has worked for, with, and contributed to groups that sought to "defund the police," and have celebrated individuals responsible for brutally murdering police officers. While this should be sufficient to disqualify Mr. Mangi from serving on a federal court one step below the U.S. Supreme Court, the SBA takes particular exception to his ostensible support for recharacterizing 9/11 as something other than the deadliest foreign terrorist attack on U.S. soil in our nation's history.
At a time when communities around our nation are struggling to recover from a declining respect for the rule of law that has fueled rising crime and lawlessness in cities across America, it sends the wrong message to appoint someone like Mr. Mangi, who has fed lies and distortions that encourage such despicable and irresponsible behavior.”
National Troopers Coalition
“While the nominee is a recognized lawyer and with appreciation for the historic nature of his nomination as the first Muslim American nominated at this level for this role, we believe his previous and continued work and role as an Advisory Board Member of the Alliance of Families for Justice is disqualifying.
We believe that Mr. Mangi’s work with this organization represents a bias against law enforcement that is cause for serious concern; therefore, the NTC opposes his nomination for proposed service on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Association of Former New Jersey State Troopers, Inc.
“We are among countless Law Enforcement entities that protested Boudin’s parole, her appointment as a professor at Columbia University, and the paroling, commuting, and granting of clemency to her co- terrorists. For a legal professional such as Mr. Mangi to support and work with a person like Boudin shows his lack of care for life and the rule of law.
The Alliance has also advocated for the release of individuals who were convicted in a court of law of the execution-style killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973. It is pure disrespect to current and former members of the New Jersey State Police, that terrorist cop killers who were convicted beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law could be held as heroes and icons to a man seeking the great responsibility of upholding the rule of law.”
Background on organizations Mangi is tied to:
Kathy Boudin, AFJ’s founding board member, pleaded guilty to felony murder for her role in a Brinks armored truck robbery that resulted in the death of two police officers in 1981. She served 23 years in prison. Boudin served as a decoy in the crime, luring two police officers to lower their weapons before they were ambushed, shot, and killed by co-conspirators. The heinous crime was politically motivated—Boudin and her Weather Underground Organization committed the robbery to secure funds for their militant-marxist political activities. To honor her legacy, AFJ sponsors a paid year-long “Kathy Boudin fellowship.”
Additionally, Mangi served on the Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights Advisory Board and donated and facilitated nearly $20,000 in funding toward the center. One letter highlights an event this organization sponsored on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, featuring speakers who are tied to terrorism. One was convicted for providing support to a terrorist organization, one called for Intifada in the U.S., and another organized events with a terrorist who hijacked planes.
The Rutgers Center regularly platforms those who whitewash terrorism and promotes vile anti-Semitic material. The Center’s radical activities prompted an investigation by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which remains ongoing. In addition to the ten police organizations that have publicly opposed Mangi’s nomination, every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, ten Republican Members of Congress representing constituents in the Third Circuit, and several Jewish organizations have also opposed his nomination.
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