An officer in New York Police Department (NYPD), David Attali has revealed secret recordings he made of fellow officers subjecting him to disgusting, sustained antisemitic abuse. One officer reportedly referred to him constantly as “Jew” or “dirty Jew”, and never called him by his name.
In one exchange, officers can be heard suggesting Attali should go to a concentration camp because “you will lose so much weight”. In another exchange three officers taunt Attali: one says, “I want to push you into an oven and f***ing burn,” another joins in, “I want to tattoo a number on you,” and a third adds, “DKS7741, step up, breathe in this tube. And, oh wait, he died, surprise, surprise.”
His locker was allegedly repeatedly vandalised including with advertisements for pork products, a newspaper headline saying “Heil Hitler” and a handwritten sign which read: “This sign is covered with bacon grease. If anyone touches it he will go straight to hell.”
Attali requested a transfer which was refused, so he began secretly recording the abuse and complained to NYPD’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) unit which found his claims to be “unsubstantiated”. He has now launched a lawsuit against the City of New York and five officers.
Attali has ceased to be a police officer, saying: “This is the only thing I wanted to do. This is the job that I love, this was it. It [the abuse] was too much for me. That’s it, I’m done. I’m out…I really had no option.”
Steve Worth, the lawyer who represented the accused officers during the EEO investigation said Attari made it clear he wanted to leave the NYPD, saying: “The way he did it was to bring false claims against these officers and to bring a lawsuit to get money on the way out the door.”
NYPD began investigating after Attali supplied his recordings and has now brought disciplinary charges against three officers.
Sources: Forward, NY Daily News and ABC 7 NY
