A rally against NYPD rapists

NEW YORK--A crowd of hundreds rallied in front of the Manhattan Criminal Court building May 27 to protest the acquittal of two New York Police Department officers accused of raping an intoxicated woman in 2009.

Attendees stood in solidarity with rape victims everywhere. Speakers addressed the rally, called through Facebook less than 24 hours before, about the war on women in America and the trend of not believing women when accusing men in power of rape.

They drew connections to dissatisfaction over police conduct toward women and minority communities, questioning who the police really work for. Activist performer Reverend Billy spoke of the dismal status of women in the United States and abroad, and called for a revolution.

The officers, Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, escorted an intoxicated woman home and deny raping her. Surveillance cameras, however, recorded the officers entering and exiting the victim's building three times during the night--and Moreno made a bogus 911 call while pretending to be a citizen in order to justify the two officers being dispatched back to the woman's apartment during the night.

Moreno claimed the woman came on to him, that he kissed her and "snuggled" her, but did not rape her. While the woman was later wearing a wire, he admitted to her that he used a condom--but later said he told her that so she wouldn't file a complaint or press charges.

Despite this damning evidence, the officers were found guilty of three counts of official misconduct for entering the woman's apartment, but not guilty of rape, burglary and falsifying business records. They were, however, fired from the police force.

The crowd thronged across the street to the barricaded steps of the Criminal Court Building, led by a lively marching band. After making some noise, the march wound around the block and over to 1 Police Plaza, where protesters were met with more barricades and more stony-faced officers.

The crowd had grown and became very vocal, chanting, "NYPD shame on you, some of you have daughters, too" and "Not her clothes, not her fault, no one asks for sexual assault." The protesters then marched through Lower Manhattan. At one point, the crowd surged into the street chanting, "Whose streets? Our streets?" The heavy police presence on motorbikes and in vans forced the crowd back onto the sidewalk.

The demands of the protest, as stated on the Facebook page, were for in-depth sexual assault and harassment training for each new class of police officers, a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault and sexual misconduct for officers while on the job, and a transparent means of communication on how Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly is implementing the new measures.