Man Convicted Of Killing 2 NYPD Officers Set For Parole

DEER PARK, NY — The last of three Black Liberation Army members convicted of killing two New York Police Department officers in Harlem in 1971 is scheduled for parole next month.

On May 21, 1971, the three men — Herman Bell, Anthony Bottom and Albert Washington — killed Officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones in a shooting in front of the Colonial Park Houses (now the Rangel Houses) in Harlem.

Jones died instantly. Piagentini was only wounded in the initial shooting. While Piagentini pleaded for his life, Bell "emptied two guns into the already seriously wounded officer" and he died on the way to the hospital, according to a news release from the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York.

The trio were convicted of first-degree murderer and sentenced to 25 years to life.

Washington died in prison and Bell was paroled in April 2018, while Bottom has remained in prison. After Bottom’s most recent parole denial in October 2019, he appealed the decision in state Supreme Court. Last month, Bottom was granted a new hearing under Judge Stephan G. Schick. Earlier this month, Bottom, now 68, appeared before the state Board of Parole and was given an open date of release of Oct. 20, Newsday reports.

"We are heartbroken to see another of Joe’s killers set free by politics," Piagentini's widow, Diane Piagentini, said in a statement. "But more than anything else, we are angry. Gov. Cuomo and the Albany Democrats might think they’ve won. They might think they’ve broken us. We have a message for them: We are not going anywhere. We will not go away until they are held accountable for the hell they’ve put us through. I owe that to my husband. My daughters owe that to their father. And we owe it to every forgotten and ignored crime victim in New York State."