Rev. Al Sharpton calls for full investigation of sodomy charge
Cops aren’t ‘above the law’
The Rev. Al Sharpton at the hospital bed of Michael Mineo, who is accusing 5 NYPD cops of sodomizing him with a walkie-talkie. Miller/Pool
Andrew S. Garib, Alison Gendar and Tina Moore, The New York Daily News Link The Rev. Al Sharpton went to the hospital bedside of a 24-year-old Brooklyn man today who claims cops brutally sodomized him with a walkie-talkie.
"I want to hear what he has to say," said Sharpton, who was flanked by Michael Mineo’s two attorneys. "I haven’t come to any conclusions."
ttorney Kevin Mosely called his client’s allegations "credible."
"Even police witnesses acknowledge seeing the pants pulled down," he said. "There’s a lot to it. And the man didn’t make up an injury to his rectal area."
The visit followed a morning radio show and rally at Sharpton’s Harlem National Action Network during which he called for an "objective" and "independent" investigation.
"I don’t care if the cops were blacks and he was white or vice versa," Sharpton said.
"They are to enforce the law, not be above the law."
Sharpton said Michael Mineo, who is white, asked for his involvement in the "Louima-like case," referring to Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant sodomized by cops in 1997.
"Something that is very strange happened," Sharpton said. "Something that needs to be properly and objectively investigated."
Mineo, a tattoo parlor worker, said the cops assaulted him on the platform of a Brooklyn subway station after grabbing him for smoking marijuana 10 days ago.
He spent four days in Brookdale University Medical Center, officials there confirmed.
He was admitted to Brooklyn Hospital less than a week later because he was bleeding from his rectum, said his attorney, Steven Jackson.
"He’s not doing very well right now," Jackson said, after the live broadcast on WLIB Radio 1190 AM.
"We have witnesses who collaborate the rendition of the facts given by our client," he said.
Jackson and Sharpton share a past. The lawyer represented one of the reverend’s co-defendants in a slander case that grew out of the Tawana Brawley case.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily News at the hospital on Friday, Mineo blamed the cops for his injuries.
"The cops did this to me," he said. "They did it to me. I’m in so much pain now."
Jackson and sources have identified one of the cops involved in the incident as Alex Cruz, 26, who has been on the force less than three years.
The Brooklyn District Attorneys Office is investigating. The NYPD says witness statements contradict Mineo’s account. 
This story went on-line a few hours before the full print version.
Published 08.10.25 02:00:00 -0500 GMT
Posted by Andrew Garib on 08.10.25 On the Web at: http://saveandrewgarib.com/articles/128 
Rev. Al Sharpton makes hospital visit, prays with man in NYPD sodomy claim
Created: 05.12.04 