Senator Daphne Jordan calls for hearings following SUNY invitation of cop-killer

Albany, NY – New York State Senator Daphne Jordan (R,C,I-Halfmoon) is sending a letter to the Senate Higher Education Committee demanding that hearings be held following the invitation of cop-killer Anthony Bottom to speak at SUNY Brockport this April.

“I am extremely concerned both as a State Senator and SUNY mom that our institutions of higher education are giving convicted murderers a taxpayer funded platform from which to speak. The State Senate must investigate current SUNY speaker policies to determine how this could have happened,” said Senator Jordan.

Anthony Bottom, along with several others, ambushed and killed two NYPD officers – Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones – in 1971. Bottom and another coconspirator were released from prison in recent years by the Parole Board.

Senator Jordan sponsors and co-sponsors a number of legislative initiatives aimed at increasing penalties for the heinous crime of violence against a police officer, and recently introduced legislation (S7564) which would require the representation of law enforcement or a victims advocate on the Parole Board. This bill, which was partly inspired by the decision of the Parole Board to release Bottom, a convicted murderer.

A copy of the letter is attached.