The Biden Administration’s Top Criminal Prosecutor Helped Lead a Group That Defended Cop Killers
16th April 2024
The Biden administration’s top criminal prosecutor served on the board of directors of a “social justice law firm” that during her tenure called to defund police departments and free cop killers from prison, records show.
Nicole M. Argentieri, the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s criminal division, served on the board of the Legal Aid Society of New York from January 2019 to May 2022, according to the nonprofit’s tax filings. During her tenure on the board, the Legal Aid Society of New York endorsed “the movement to #DefundNYPD” and promoted a “March to Defund the NYPD” rally.
The Legal Aid Society also represented some of New York City’s most notorious cop killers when Argentieri served on the board. In 2019 and 2020, lawyers for the nonprofit represented Black Liberation Army members Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim in their parole cases. The pair were convicted of assassinating two New York City police officers in May 1971 and murdered a San Francisco police officer inside a patrol station in August 1971. They were granted parole over the objections of their victims’ families and then-New York City mayor Bill de Blasio.