NYPD names wrong judge, wrong DA in push to call out 'soft on crime' partners

The NYPD said a top official's social media post attacking a judge was a clear-eyed appraisal of the criminal justice system that New Yorkers should expect more of in the future.

A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said Chief of Patrol John Chell was countering “misinformation” with “facts.” NYPD spokesperson Tarik Sheppard said officials were using a new tactic to hold people accountable, including journalists and critics who “haven't done their homework.”

But the NYPD apparently didn’t do its homework either.

Writing on the social media platform X, Chell criticized Acting Supreme Court Justice J. Machelle Sweeting for allegedly releasing someone with numerous prior arrests and convictions back out onto the streets without bail. He praised Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for “doing his job” in asking for bail. His post was shared by three top NYPD officials, including a deputy commissioner.

Neither Bragg nor Sweeting was involved in the case, said courts spokesperson Al Baker.

“The recent social media posts from NYPD officials criticizing a recent bail decision not only indicated that the crime allegedly took place in the wrong county, it also named a judge that did not preside over the case,” Baker said in a statement on Thursday night.

The turn of events came after legal experts and elected officials sharply criticized the statements for being inappropriate and posing a danger to judges. It follows recent police claims about the migrant crisis that were not supported by data. The NYPD has become increasingly assertive on social media, most recently deriding a freelance journalist who has criticized aggressive police interactions with protesters.

Adams defended the errant social media post on Friday while seemingly also contradicting what the NYPD said.

“The goal is not to call out a judge for doing his job,” he told 1010WINS, though that was police officials' stated goal.

He said police are frustrated at seeing the release of people who have repeatedly been arrested.

“You feel sometimes that the other arms of the criminal justice system [are] not hearing that everyday New Yorkers are the victims of these crimes,” he said. “So could they have done it better? One can say yea or nay, but I know they're dedicated to keeping the city safe like I’m dedicated to doing it.”

I don't have a problem with the due diligence that Chief Chell put forward to verify that name

NYPD spokesperson Tarik Sheppard on a police chief criticizing the wrong judge on social media.

Sheppard was unapologetic about the post during an interview with Gothamist. He said Chell had verified the information about the judge multiple times with a third party he declined to name.

“There is a way to verify and that process broke down,” he said. “That name came back on four separate occasions. And so I don't have a problem with the due diligence that Chief Chell put forward to verify that name.”

Sheppard argued that the substance of Chell’s statements about judges and decisions on repeat offenders was accurate and that the department was prepared to put out the name of the judge who was actually on the case.

“None of the facts are incorrect,” he said. “The name may change but our issues with these judges’ decisions are the same.”

When he was asked if the department owed Sweeting an apology, Sheppard said that was not his decision to make.

“You'd have to ask the judge — do they want an apology from somebody?” he said. “If they do, we can figure out who that person should be.”

On Friday afternoon, the NYPD issued a statement about Chell’s erroneous social media post. The statement did not include an apology, though Chell later said in another post that "an apology is owed to the Honorable Judge Machelle Sweeting."

"My post, my responsibility!" he wrote.

Sweeting did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Baker, the courts spokesperson, declined to comment further on Friday.

The NYPD and mayor's office initially doubled down on the post on Thursday.

“When misinformation festers on social media, the NYPD is countering it with facts,” said Adams' spokesperson Charles Lutvak, referring to the initial posts.

Sheppard said on Thursday that much of the department criticism "comes from people that haven't done their homework, haven’t done a single piece of research, call themselves reporters and have never taken the time to come meet with us.” He said to expect more posts calling out judges and other officials.

Norman Siegel, a civil liberties lawyer who formerly led the New York Civil Liberties Union, argued that police officials are entitled to criticize judges under the First Amendment, but added: “That doesn’t mean they should exercise the right.”

“And if they exercise the right, they should make sure it’s correct,” he said.

Siegel also said direct criticism of a judge by NYPD leadership struck him as unusual. Whether the department should engage in such attacks was something for the mayor and police commissioner to decide, he said.

This story has been updated with additional information.