Assault charge dropped against Providence NAACP president Gerard Catala

PROVIDENCE – Gerard Catala, president of the Providence branch of the NAACP, no longer faces a charge of simple assault.

A city solicitor has dropped the charge, a spokesman for Mayor Brett P. Smiley said Friday.

The solicitor in the case hadn't been able to make contact with the person who accused Catala of assaulting him, said the spokesman, Josh Estrella.

The simple assault charge against Catala was lodged last month.

The criminal complaint accused Catala of carrying out the assault on Aug. 16.

According to a Providence police report, police had gone to Rodman Street at around 10 p.m. and encountered a bleeding man who told them that he had been punched in the face repeatedly and beaten while he was on the ground.

The report said Catala told police he did not assault the man and suggested the man had been injured in a fall.

AG's office nixes $40,000 in funding as NAACP president faces campaign-finance charges

When police asked to view footage from nearby cameras, Catala told them, "You are not seeing my cameras … under no circumstances," the report said.

The charge was dropped on Wednesday, according to an online court record.

Catala still faces charges that he violated campaign-finance laws. He is accused of failing to file required campaign finance paperwork during his unsuccessful bid for a Providence City Council seat in 2022.

A trial in the case is scheduled for Oct. 4. in District Court, Providence, according to an online court record.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence drops assault charge against NAACP president Gerard Catala