What They Are Saying: Police Groups Oppose Third Circuit Nominee Adeel Mangi For His Ties To Cop Killers
“Mr. Mangi’s heroes executed our heroes who were protecting and serving the community on October 20th, 1981.”
- Rockland County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association
WASHINGTON – Several law enforcement organizations are urging the U.S. Senate to oppose Adeel Abdullah Mangi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. 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 not only co-founded by a cop killer, but that also has described other convicted cop killers as “freedom fighters.”
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.”
Rockland County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, Inc.:
“The Police Officers that were executed by Boudin and her fellow terrorist in Nyack in 1981 were members of the RCPBA; these were our members! . . . These Terrorists’ actions drastically changed the law enforcement landscape in Rockland County.
“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 the men and women of Rockland County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, past and present, the citizens of Nyack, and Rockland County 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 responsible of upholding the rule of law.
“Mr. Mangi’s heroes executed our heroes who were protecting and serving the community on October 20th, 1981.”
National Association of Police Organizations, Inc.:
“The Alliance [of Families for Justice] has advocated and continues to advocate for the release of at least six other cop-killers – Sundiata Acoli, Mumia Abu Jamal, Mutulu Shakur, Russell Maroon Shoatz, Jamil Al Amin, Kamau Sadiki – referring to them all as ‘elder freedom fighters.’
“The fact that [AFJ] . . . raises these cop-killers as leaders to follow and is calling for their release is an affront to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to protecting our communities as law enforcement officers.
“It is one thing to stand up for the rights of those shunned or mistreated by society. It is a far different thing to exalt unrepentant killers who were convicted following legal trials in courts of law. Mr. Mangi is smart enough to know the difference, and has made his choice.”
National Sheriffs’ Association:
“The fact that Mr. Mangi, as an Advisory Board member, aligns himself with an organization advocating for the release of convicted cop-killers is seriously disturbing.
“Law enforcement officers across the country risk their lives every day to protect and serve our communities. They deserve the support of senior officials in the federal government who help to set policy. Mr. Mangi’s association with the Alliance raises concerns about a potential bias against victims and law enforcement, which could impact his decision-making as a lifetime appointed judge.”
State Troopers NCO Association of New Jersey, Inc.:
“It is an affront to the men and women of the State Troopers NCO Association and New Jersey State Police that cop-killers who were convicted beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law could be held as heroes and icons to some.
“We strongly condemn any group who advocates in favor of those who have attacked and killed law enforcement officers. Advocating for unrepentant cop-killers in the name of justice is an insult to all those who don the uniform every day to serve and protect.”
New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, Inc.:
“His leadership and association with the Alliance of Families for Justice makes it clear he cannot be impartial in dealing with law enforcement officers. The Alliance advocates for cop-killers to be freed from prison including some of the most notorious murderers in the history of policing.
“We can respect a lawyer who represents criminal defendants to the best of their ability.
But we can’t respect, and can never support, a lawyer who so blatantly promotes the opinion that the police are criminals, and the cop-killers are the victims. He has disqualified himself as an impartial decider of facts where police are involved, and we therefore ask that his nomination be defeated in the Senate.”
In addition to his role on the advisory board of AFJ, Mangi donated and facilitated nearly $20,000 in funding for the Rutgers University Center for Security, Race and Rights, and served on its advisory board. The Rutgers Center regularly platforms terrorist sympathizers and promotes vile anti-Semitic material. The Center’s radical activities prompted an investigation by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which remains ongoing. Every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, ten Republican Members of Congress representing constituents in the Third Circuit, and several Jewish organizations also oppose Mangi’s nomination.
