Suspect Charged with Shooting NYPD Officer Released on Bond
A teen rapper charged with shooting a New York City police officer was released on Thursday after posting his $250,000 bond.
Camrin Williams, an up-and-coming rapper who goes by the name “C Blu,” walked free from a Brooklyn juvenile facility after being charged with gun and assault charges in the shooting of a 27-year-old police officer in the Bronx, the New York Post reported.
NYPD Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch slammed Williams’s release in a statement.
“If anybody wants to know why we have a crisis of violence in this city, or why we’re about to bury two hero police officers, look no further than this disgraceful bail release,” Lynch said in a statement, referring to two NYPD officers who were killed in an ambush shooting in Harlem last week.
“This individual chose to carry illegal guns twice,” Lynch said. “He chose to fight with and shoot a New York City police officer. There’s no reason to believe he won’t do the exact same thing when he’s out on the street tonight.”
“Shame on Judge Denis Boyle for allowing this to happen,” he added. “The people of the Bronx won’t be safe as long as he’s on the bench.”
Williams’s case is not the first instance in which the Bronx Supreme Court justice has been accused of being overly lenient, especially with young defendants, according to the New York Post.
State court officials accused Lynch of “projecting” on the judge.
“The ire that the PBA president is projecting on the judge, who is following the law, should be directed at the individuals who promulgate those laws,” Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, told the New York Post.
Williams allegedly shot a police officer who responded to reports of an unruly crowd at Lorillard Place near East 187th Street on January 18, according to the report. The teen would not remove his hands from his pockets and a struggle with police ensued. A gun Williams was holding discharged during the struggle, striking and wounding NYPD officer Kaseem Pennant and hitting the teenager in the groin.
The shooting comes after Williams already had a gun possession arrest on his record from 2020 and was placed on probation as a juvenile in the case one month ago.
Williams planned to use an advance on his contract with Interscope Records to post the $15,000 in cash needed to secure the bond, the report said.
Williams’ attorney, Dawn Florio, said the teen plans to return to regular life now that he has been released.
“Camrin has been released and will be back to his regular productive life of focusing on schoolwork and his music career,” Florio said.
Williams’ release comes as city and state officials continue to fight over bail reform.
State lawmakers have faced criticism for a 2019 law that eliminated cash bail for defendants accused of misdemeanor and “non-violent” felony crimes. Some of the bail-reform changes were rolled back one year later in response to an outcry from law enforcement and the public.
“It was just a terrible law that was passed,” Nassau County Republican Committee chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. previously told National Review of the bail-reform law. “It gives criminals the ability to commit a crime today, get arrested, be brought into court later today and be free again tonight and go out and commit another burglary — this has actually happened.”
However, Williams was eligible for bail in his case. Prosecutors asked that the teen be held without bail last week before the judge set bond at $250,000.
Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said lawmakers “must allow judges to take dangerousness into account” when setting bail or deciding to jail someone pending trial.
Meanwhile, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said last week she will “absolutely stand behind the fundamental premise on why we needed bail reform in the first place,” adding she will not “cave” to political pressure on the issue.
