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Bklyn DA Ken Thompson, 50, Dies of Cancer Only Days After Saying He Would be Stepping Back

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Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson is seen here with Rabbi Mordechai Jungreis, Shlita, the Grand Rebbe of Niklesburg in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.

Ken Thompson has died just days after announcing he was stepping back from his Brooklyn District Attorney role, according to his office. Thompson was 50 years old. He passed away on Sunday at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, according to reports.

“It is with deep regret and tremendous sadness that I announce the passing of DA Ken Thompson,” Chief Assistant DA Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “He was a giant among those seeking to reform the criminal justice system and we are all privileged to have worked under his transformative leadership these past three years.”

Thompson announced on Oct. 4 he would be stepping back from his role as district attorney to deal with an aggressive form of cancer.

“Recently, I was diagnosed with cancer,” the statement said. “As a man of intense faith, I intend to fight and win the battle against this disease. I humbly seek your sincere prayers as I confront this challenge and respectfully ask that you honor my family’s need and wish for privacy during this time.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray passed on their thoughts to Thompson’s family on Sunday.

“The thoughts and prayers of our entire city are with District Attorney Ken Thompson, his family, and his loved ones tonight,” de Blasio said in a statement. “With a life and promise cut far too short, our city was blessed with but a glimpse of Ken’s unwavering commitment to justice and his unrivaled pursuit of a more fair system for all those he served. Our courtrooms and our communities have no doubt been dealt a blow with Ken’s passing, but I am confident the indelible mark left by his public service will forever be a part of the fabric of our justice system. Tonight we mourn the loss of a champion of reform. Our task now will be to rise each day forward in the spirit Ken lived his life.”

Borough President Eric Adams called Thompson “more than a colleague; he was my friend.”

“Brooklyn has lost a true champion of justice. Our borough stands united in mourning the terribly untimely passing of Ken Thompson, a man who set a gold standard for public service that has had an lasting impact across our country,” Adams said in a statement. “From enacting marijuana prosecution reform to addressing the open warrant crisis for low-level offenses, he has introduced much-needed fairness and compassion into our criminal justice system.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement on Sunday night he would sorely miss Thompson.

“I am profoundly saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson after a battle with cancer,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Ken was a dedicated public servant who embodied the highest principles of the law, and his grand presence will be sorely missed.

“A lifelong New Yorker, Ken was known as an effective, aggressive civil rights leader – and a national voice for criminal justice reform. When he took office in 2014, Ken became the first African-American in history to serve as Brooklyn District Attorney. He also served with distinction as a federal prosecutor, working with Loretta Lynch in the Eastern District of New York before founding a law firm devoted to social justice and the fight against discrimination.”

Thompson was elected Brooklyn DA in September 2013, serving from January 2014 until this week. He defeated Charles Hynes, who had served 22 years in the position, in the Democratic primary. Gonzalez will take over for Thompson in that position in the interim.

The New York City public school product and NYU Law School graduate first rose to prominence as a federal prosecutor when he handled the case of Abner Louima, a Brooklyn man who claimed he was beaten by police officers from the 70th Precinct and sexually assaulted with a broom handle. The 1997 incident resulted in a conviction and 30-year prison sentence for police officer Justin Volpe.

Thompson left for the private sector after serving as federal prosecutor, notably representing a Manhattan hotel worker in the 2011 sexual assault case against International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The case was later dropped by public prosecutors based on the woman’s lack of credibility.

In one of the highest-profile cases of his tenure as DA, in March, Thompson recommended no jail time for Peter Liang, the former NYPD cop convicted of manslaughter after fatally shooting Akai Gurley in a stairwell at the Louis Pink Houses in City Line. Judge Danny Chun agreed, and Liang was sentenced to five years probation and 800 hours of community service. 

By: Mark Osborne 
(patch.com)

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