City Councilmember Inna Vernikov was arraigned on Thursday on one count of criminal possession of a weapon in a “sensitive location,” a low-level felony, after bringing a weapon to a protest at Brooklyn College in the week following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
While the first-term Republican lawmaker is licensed to carry a gun, she was arrested and charged last month after photos of her posted on social media showed her carrying a gun in her waistband at a pro-Palestinian protest on Oct.12, running afoul of state law that bars possession of a firearm in certain places.
Vernikov did not enter a plea during the brief court appearance. Outside the courthouse, her attorney Arthur Aidala called for more evidence to prove that the gun she was carrying was a real, operable firearm and that the photo depicting her with a gun on her hip was not computer-generated.
“A photograph taken by we don’t know who, under what circumstances, is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.
About a dozen protesters also gathered outside the court, chanting “Vernikov has got to go” and “We don’t want no Zionists here.”
Vernikov’s case is one of the first legal tests of New York’s recent sensitive location rules. If she is convicted of the crime, which is a class E felony, Vernikov would be required to resign under the state’s Public Officers law.
Vernikov, a staunch backer of Israel, shared a video of herself on social media at the Oct. 12 protest, where she had gathered with pro-Israeli demonstrators to oppose pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the school. Photos taken by others at the protest showed her carrying a gun on her hip. The NYPD contacted Vernikov after the protest and she turned herself in early the next morning.
As a sitting lawmaker, Vernikov’s violation of the state’s gun law is becoming a flashpoint, highlighting the ideological divide between anti-gun violence activists and constituents in the 48th Council District as they decide whether…
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