NYPD cop once accused of spying for China fights to get his job back after firing
A former NYPD cop once accused of being a spy for China is now fighting back at the decision to axe him as one of New York’s Finest — even after the feds dropped the espionage case against him.
Baimadajie Angwang, a 37-year-old Tibet native, called the decision by NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban to fire him in January “extremely disappointing,” and has launched an effort the get his job back.
“I have continued to fight, not just for me, for anyone who were wrongfully accused in the past who’s getting the wrongful treatment I just got at this moment, or any potential disciplinary victims in the future,” Angwang told The Associated Press this week.
“I will not give up until I find the justice,” he said.
Angwang’s struggles began in September 2020, when federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed a damning complaint accusing the cop and US Marine Corps vet of spying for the People’s Republic of China.
The 24-page document claimed the community affairs cop was in frequent contact with two operatives at the Chinese consulate in Manhattan starting in 2018, and had phone conversations with them “on at least 53 occasions.”
The federal complaint said Angwang “reported on the activities of ethnic Tibetans and others in the New York metropolitan area and beyond,” and used his status as a cop “to provide consulate officials access to senior NYPD officials through invitations to official NYPD events.”
But in February, the feds abruptly dropped the case without explanation, seemingly clearing Angwang.
However, Angwang got into hot water with the NYPD after he declined to show up for an internal affairs interview, saying he did so on his lawyer’s advice because he wasn’t told what he would be grilled about.
In a Jan. 29 ruling, Caban said the cop would be kicked off the force.
“The department is a paramilitary organization and failure to obey and comply with questioning under an official investigation undermines its ability to carry out its mission,” Caban wrote.
“Therefore, based on the foregoing, I direct that Police Officer Angwang be immediately dismissed from the department,” the commissioner concluded.
Angwang’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
But in his interview Wednesday with the Associated Press, the ex-cop said he’s anxious to get back on the beat at the 111th Precinct stationhouse in Queens.
“I just want people to be aware as an immigrant I served in the Marines,” he said. “I went to combat. I went to Afghanistan. I was able to become a police officer.
“I was able to become a community affairs officer. I was able to build a bridge between the underserved community and the NYPD, which never happened in the past. I gained a lot of support,” Angwang said.
“And now, unfortunately, NYPD terminated that opportunity between the NYPD and the community.”
The NYPD declined to comment on the case and referred The Post to Caban’s decision.
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy and with Post wires
