Gun Charges Against BK City Council Member Dropped: DA

BROOKLYN, NY — The Brooklyn District Attorney had "no choice" but to drop City Council Member Inna Vernikov's gun charges after she was spotted with a gun at a pro-Palestine protest outside Brooklyn College, the Brooklyn District Attorney's office said.

Vernikov's gun was "unloaded and missing the recoil spring assembly, rendering it inoperable," according to the District Attorney's office.

The council member's charge, criminal possession of a firearm, requires the weapon in question be "capable of firing bullets" — meaning Vernikov's charges wouldn't stand, according to the District Attorney's office.

"We have no choice but to dismiss these charges," a representative from the District Attorney's office said in a statement to Patch.

Vernikov was charged with criminal possession of a firearm after a gun was visible in her pants at a pro-Palestine rally at Brooklyn College, police said. In early November, Vernikov pleaded not guilty to the weapons charge, court records show.

"Peaceful protest is the right of every American, but bringing a gun to a protest is illegal and creates an unacceptable risk of harm that has no place in our city," a representative of the District Attorney's office said.

Vernikov has been a loud advocate of Israel. She posted videos to social media at the pro-Palestine rally expressing her disapproval of the student organizers. She has previously been vocal about encouraging her constituents to apply for concealed carry licenses.

"This is a great time for Jewish communities to apply for a concealed carry license," Vernikov said in a tweet on Oct. 9.

Many electeds and local organizers immediately called for Vernikov's expulsion or resignation, and on Friday, City Council Member Chi Ossé said the outcome is a "shame."

"By failing to hold Council Member Vernikov and the NYPD officers who failed to arrest her on site accountable, we are setting a precedent allowing firearms at protests and college campuses,