Kenneth P. Thompson, the first black district attorney in Brooklyn, New York, has died.
In 2013, Thompson ran a platform of reform and racial justice. He unseated fellow Democrat, Charles J. Hynes. The son of a police officer, he lived in public housing in Harlem before moving to Co-Op City, a housing development in the Bronx. He attended the city’s public schools and attended the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. After his graduation, he obtained a law degree from the New York University School of Law.
Prior to running for public office, Thompson ran a successful private law practice where he represented Nafissatou Diallo, a Manhattan hotel housekeeper who, in 2011, accused the French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in a case that was eventually dropped by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
He worked as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn in the trial of Justin Volpe, the police officer who pleaded guilty in 1999 to torturing a Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima, with a broken broomstick in a Brooklyn station house.
In these times of heightened racial tension over police-related shootings, Thompson prosecuted Peter Liang, the former New York City police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man, Akai Gurley, in the stairwell of a housing project in 2014. After the trial was over, Thompson decided not to seek prison time for Liang, which led to protests.
Thompson’s office is a model for prosecutors nationally, holding lawbreakers accountable and fighting for the wrongly accused and imprisoned.
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, Thompson announced he recently learned he had cancer and would take a leave of absence and his chief assistant, Eric Gonzalez, would take over in the interim. Thompson’s cancer diagnosis was made in August.
He stated, “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.”
“The thoughts and prayers of our entire city are with District Attorney Ken Thompson, his family and his loved ones tonight,” Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, said in a statement on Sunday. “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.”
