Metro

Jewish NYC pol who showed up at pro-Palestinian rally packing heat released without bail

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Published Nov. 2, 2023, 2:30 p.m. ET

Republican Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov – who was spotted toting a firearm at a pro-Palestinian rally -quietly slipped in and out of court Thursday morning after being cut loose without bail on gun charges.

The councilwoman, who is Jewish, walked into Brooklyn Criminal Court shortly after the doors opened at 9 a.m. and left quickly after her arraignment on a single charge of criminal possession of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun in a sensitive location stemming from the Oct. 12 incident at CUNY’s Brooklyn College.

“Protect our students, protect them all. Vernikov has got to go,” more than a dozen pro-Palestinian activists waiting outside the courthouse chanted as the pol and her lawyer walked past.

“Vernikov, you can’t hide. You’re supporting genocide,” they yelled.

Photos from the rally appeared to show Vernikov, 39, with the butt-end of a gun in her waistline as she glared at protesting students.

The councilwoman surrendered at the 70th Precinct stationhouse the following day and was released with a desk appearance ticket pending her first court hearing on Thursday.

Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov with handgun at Oct. 12 rally.
Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a registered gun owner, appears to have a handgun tucked in her waist at an Oct. 12 pro-Palestinian protest at CUNY’s Brooklyn College. She is now facing weapons charges in the incident. Brooklyn College SJP/Instagram
Pro-Palestinian protesters outside Brooklyn court.
Pro-Palestinian protesters greeted Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernkov, who is Jewish, outside a Brooklyn courthouse where the pol was charged with possession of a weapon at “a sensitive location” during an Oct. 12 protest. Gregory P. Mango

The councilwoman has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but it is illegal in New York state to have a firearm in a sensitive location like school grounds or a protest.

Her attorney, Arthur Aidala, questioned the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office’s evidence following the hearing Thursday.

“From a lawyer’s point of view, the things I can question are, number one, does the gun work and, number two, who saw her with a gun?” Aidala said.

“That’s what they need to prove and we’ll see what evidence turns up between now and [the next court date on] January 24th,” he added.

“But as of today, there is no evidence that the gun works and there is no evidence that somebody actually saw her with the gun.”

Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov with an Israeli flag.
Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov displays an Israeli flag at a pro-Palestinian protest at CUNY’s Brooklyn College on Oct. 12. Prosecutors said she also carried a gun and is now facing a felony weapons possession charge. Paul Martinka
Pro-Palestinian protesters outside Brooklyn courthouse.
Pro-Palestinian protesters outside Brooklyn Court, where city Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, who is Jewish, was charged with carrying a weapon at a sensitive location. Prosecutors said she was packing at an Oct. 12 pro-Palestinian rally. Gregory P. Mango

The protest at the CUNY campus was one of several pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have taken place in New York since radical Hamas militants carried out a brutal Oct. 7 sneak attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 — nearly all of them civilians.

Pro-Israeli protesters and pro-Palestinian protesters have clashed in several volatile encounters.

Police said no one was “menaced or injured” when Vernikov showed up with the gun — but the stunt didn’t sit well with some, including other elected officials in the Big Apple.

“It is unacceptable and unlawful for a civilian to ever bring a firearm to a rally or protest — and especially important for elected officials to model and respect the law,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said after the incident.

She also said the council was probing the incident.

Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.
Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, who is Jewish, has emerged as a vocal defender of Israel in the wake of the sneak attack on the Jewish State by radical Hamas militants on Oct. 7, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis. Stephen Yang

Vernikov did not comment on the incident but posted a clip of herself at the rally on X.

“If you’re standing w/the protesters, yelling ‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ & ‘FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE’ while innocent women and babies are being raped, massacred and beheaded, you’re a HAMAS supporter and apologist who would like to bring the terror here to rid the world of the Jewish people,” she wrote with the clip.

The charge against her is a class-E felony.