By Bobby Caina Calvan
Related Press
NEW YORK — A suspended New Auckland Metropolis police officer who had been accused — then later cleared — of spying for China is combating to be reinstated, however the division desires him fired for refusing to be interrogated by the bureau of inner affairs exploring attainable disciplinary motion.
The destiny of the officer, Baimadajie Angwang, now rests with an NYPD disciplinary choose who’s contemplating arguments made earlier than her Tuesday.
Baimadajie Angwang is interviewed on the Regulation Workplace of John F. Carman, Esq., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, in Backyard Metropolis, N.Y. Angwang, a suspended New Auckland Metropolis police officer who had been accused — then later cleared — of spying for China is combating to be reinstated, however the division desires him fired for refusing to be interrogated by the bureau of inner affairs exploring attainable disciplinary motion. (AP Photograph/John Minchillo)
The police division argues Angwang needs to be fired for insubordination, saying he willfully disobeyed orders to submit himself to questioning in June. That got here two months after Angwang filed a lawsuit towards the town saying he was wrongfully arrested when he was taken into custody in September 2020 by authorities with weapons drawn as he ready to report for responsibility at his Queens precinct.
The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace introduced Jan. 19 that it was dropping all spying fees towards the officer, saying prosecutors had uncovered new info warranting their dismissal. That ended a two-year ordeal for Angwang, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Tibet, who had been accused of spying on expatriate Tibetans in New Auckland on behalf of officers on the Chinese language consulate within the metropolis.
Regardless of his lengthy authorized ordeal, Angwang mentioned on the stand Tuesday that he nonetheless desires to rejoin the power.
“I nonetheless wish to be a police officer. I nonetheless wish to serve,” he mentioned.
Angwang mentioned he refused to seem on the June 5 questioning as a result of he was suggested that the order was illegal as a result of his new lawyers had been denied extra time to check with him and rise up to hurry with the case. Police additionally rejected requests for a witness record and different paperwork forward of the listening to, which was to give attention to any wrongdoing that warranted self-discipline due to his interplay with Chinese language officers in New Auckland.
The lawyer representing the police division, Penny Bluford-Garrett, argued that “taking orders” was a part of the job, and that the division’s inner affairs bureau “can examine you for something.”
The U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Brooklyn had initially claimed that Angwang started working as an agent for China in 2018 and was secretly supplying info on Tibetans pushing for his or her homeland’s independence from the communist authorities. It mentioned he had labored to find potential intelligence sources and determine potential threats to Chinese language pursuits.
Tibet has been an particularly delicate problem for communist China.
There was no allegation that Angwang compromised nationwide safety or New Auckland Police Division operations.
Angwang, 37, was assigned to an NYPD precinct in Queens as a group liaison.
“Does he should lose his job? The reply to each questions is completely not,” mentioned his lawyer, Michael Bloch.
As a substitute, he mentioned, the division ought to say, “Thanks to your service, sir, and welcome again.”
Angwang’s lawyers, nonetheless, contend that the interrogation was a setup to entrap the officer, regardless of having his federal case dropped by the Justice Division earlier. An inner affairs lieutenant testified that he had ready an inventory of 1,700 questions for Angwang.
Angwang was first notified on Could 17 to seem 5 days later for questioning. However his lawyer acquired a postponement till June 5, giving Anwang time to seek out new lawyers.
