About 100 family members and friends of Amit Bornstein led a protest yesterday, demanding answers as to how the 22-year-old Jewish Marlboro man died in the Monmouth County Jail this summer. The following letter was submitted by a reader who claims to be David Katz, the Attorney for the Bornstiens, thanking those who attended the rally and press conference. At this time, the letter has not yet been verified as coming from Katz himself.
The following is the contents of the letter submitted to TLS:
First of all, thank you for your interest and support. It is a tragedy. Thanks also to those of you who managed to make it out to yesterday’s rally. I represent the Bornstein family in this tragic death
Amit was killed while being processed at the county jail. 8, yes eight, corrections officers were involved. Not police or sheriffs. They claimed he tossed them around like Barbie dolls, yet his badly beaten body had deep cuts at his ankles and wrists due to his struggling to free himself during the beating they gave him. He was shackled – hogtied – and killed. Every part of his body was covered in bruises.
APP initially covered it, along with some Jewish press, but as we waited for the ‘official’ autopsy results for the cause of death, press interest went away.
You can thank the Democratic candidate for sheriff, Eric Brophy, whose race for that office brought renewed press coverage due to the race. One of his points in challenging the current sheriff revolves around Amit’s death. The best way to thank him is by getting out to vote for him on November 2.
Hopefully, someone with integrity will be the new sheriff in town, who will be able to control the behavior of people, like corrections officers.
They are cowards, who killed a boy while he was handcuffed and shackled. 8 of them. They are a disgrace to their shields, their uniforms, their community. They killed your son, your neighbor. And they are trying to get away with it by blaming the victim – by smearing him with irrelevant details, like possible steroid use, or that he smoked pot in the past, things like that. Even if true, they could not possibly justify his brutal killing by hands of the county.
I hope you keep focused on this tragedy, and ask your officials how they can justify it.
Why does TLS believe that this letter came from the Burnstien family’s lawyer. It sure doesn’t sound like it’s coming from any lawyer especially with that election part stuck in!
who cares who wrote it…. hes making sense. this man was killed in cold blood. take a look at the images.
David Katz is an accountant
No lawyer would pen such a terribly written letter.
I am indeed the family’s lawyer.
My comments appeared in response to a posting
which was penned by someone with close ties to the Corrections officers and the local Republican party (as I was later advised). The comments he made suggested that it was possible that Amit Bornstein might have been involved in a fight, or was violent (I don’t have the posting handy) and things of that nature, suggesting that until otherwise proven, we should accept everything that the local officials are saying. Essentially, he was trying to blame the victim, at least until proven innocent.
I refused to allow that posting to remain without any response by someone who knows the facts. That is why I am taking the time to respond to these latest posts.
You can reach me at justice4amit@gmail.com