Public Employee Press

Member cleared in Ground Zero scuffle
Local 375, members and DDC backed Michael Kenny all the way against PA cops

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

A jury on Sept. 29 cleared Local 375 member Michael Kenny of the assault charges filed by Port Authority police after he tried to stop them from brutalizing a co-worker during the 9/11 cleanup.

Mr. Kenny, who received the Dept. of Design and Construction’s highest honor for his work as a shift supervisor at Ground Zero, attempted to protect his co-worker only to be savagely beaten himself by the cops.

The PA officers hurled Mr. Kenny to the ground face-first, pummeled him in the ribs and kidneys, kicked him when he was down and pepper sprayed his face.

“I was trying to stop another human being from getting the beating of his life,” Mr. Kenny, 41, testified on Sept. 26. He choked up and his eyes filled with tears as he recalled the incident, which occurred at about 11 p.m. on April 13, 2002.

Several PA officers viciously assaulted laborer Clint Collins shortly after he took down the license plate of a vehicle filled with cops and three women. Mr. Collins testified that the cops sped off into the “pit,” ignoring his observation that site rules required the women to have respirators and other safety gear.

Local 375 leaders and staffers and coworkers of Mr. Kenney showed up all six days of the trial at Criminal Court. “The way Mike’s co-workers and his fellow Local 375 members united behind him was the most touching example of worker solidarity that I have ever seen,” Local 375 President Claude Fort said.

Local 375 provided Mr. Kenny with support for his legal fees, produced flyers and buttons and waged a media campaign in his defense. In a petition drive, hundreds of members urged Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau to drop the charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice and harassment against Mr. Kenny.

Earlier this year, DDC gave the Construction Project Manager (level 3), an in-house promotion, which Local 375 members viewed as a show of solidarity by the agency in response to the Port Authority’s senseless vendetta against him.

“The union stood behind Mike 100 percent. He was our hero,” said Ron Vega, who worked with Mr. Kenny at Ground Zero for months. Mr. Vega, vice president of Local 375’s DDC Chapter, testified as a character witness for Mr. Kenny. Local 375 member Charlie Kaczorowsi and Assistant Commissioner Luis Mendes also appeared in his defense.

“If it was just me against the Port Authority, I probably would have buckled,” said Mr. Kenny. “The fact that people supported me got me through this.”

Although he was elated by the verdict, Mr. Kenny is haunted by his experience at Ground Zero. The night after he was found not guilty, he awoke in a deep sweat remembering Ground Zero. Mr. Kenny’s wife, Brenda and the couple’s 15-year-old daughter, Kyle accompanied him at the trial.