Whenever there’s a high profile story in the city, particularly when the Rev. Al Sharpton is at the center of it, the news media flocks to the National Action Network’s Saturday rallies. Last Saturday, there were two stories that had a Sharpton connection—rape allegations against attorney Sanford Rubenstein and the turmoil swirling around former publicist Rachel Noerdlinger.
There was also a small group of white tourists, not at all unlike those who visit the local churches, mainly to hear the choirs. Sharpton let them know he had a special sermon for them later on and told them to hold their seats.
Before dealing with the issues related to his former embattled colleagues, he reminded the crowd, “We are in a serious battle against police misconduct … this is not a soap opera or reality television. It’s about people losing their lives.” An attentive audience knew he was talking about the recent police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner on Staten Island.
He did not spend much time on the Rubenstein affair, though he did feel Rubenstein’s departure was necessary because his attorney was becoming a distraction, “and we have to keep going to our destination,” he said. And that journey to justice will have attorney Jonathan Moore guiding the Garner family, which has already taken the preliminary steps to bring a lawsuit against the city.
Both Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother, and Esaw Garner, his widow, spoke and agreed with Sharpton that it was time to move on and that ridding themselves of Rubenstein should not be taken personally. “It was hard for us, but we had to make that difficult decision,” Carr said.
Moore’s credentials are impeccable, Sharpton began, noting that he represented Michael Stewart, who was killed by a transit cop in 1983, and that he was the lawyer for three of the Central Park Five, who were unjustly convicted, imprisoned and subsequently acquitted.
In his opening remarks after being introduced by Sharpton, Moore quoted the great legal mind Charles Hamilton Houston. “He said there are two kinds of lawyers—either you are a social engineer or a parasite,” he said, letting the definition hang in the air as members of the audience looked knowingly at each other, clearly getting his allusion.
Justice for the Garner family was one of the key things Moore said he hoped to achieve. He added, “Criminal charges must be brought against the officer, and there may be a need for a special prosecutor. And we must make sure that something like this never happens again.”
On Noerdlinger’s plight, Sharpton told the audience that when she took the job, “don’t think they won’t put a collar on you,” he said. “They have been doing it to me for 30 years.”
He said she should be judged by the same standards as everyone else, and there can’t be two sets of rules in the city. “Rachel did her job above and beyond the call of duty when she was with me, and that’s what she has been doing for the de Blasio administration,” he continued.
Then it was time for the preacher to mount the pulpit and give the visitors a taste of what Sharpton can do when the spirit moves him.