Livoti: A Long History of Brutality

Revolutionary Worker #962, June 21, 1998

Francis Livoti, the cop who murdered Anthony Baez, has a long history of brutality. In his 13-year career, he has made 550 felony arrests. There have been at least 11 complaints against Livoti filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). While in court on a 1991 case, he reportedly threatened to shoot a judge and witness. He had previously broken the witness' jaw during an arrest. The year before he choked Anthony Baez to death, he choked a 16-year-old Puerto Rican youth named Steven Resto for the "crime" of riding his go-cart in the street.

Livoti has never faced any disciplinary action. But there were so many complaints filed against him that the NYPD was forced to place Livoti in a monitoring program. The night he murdered Anthony Baez, he was being monitored by the highest ranking officer on the scene, Sgt. William Monahan.

Livoti's murdering has been supported and defended from the city's highest officials. A few months after Livoti murdered Anthony Baez, the chief of the department, Louis Anemone, said of Livoti: "This is an officer that has been very active in solving community problems, doing the kind of work that the citizenry of the city and certainly this country are looking for." And when New York Mayor Giuliani heard that Livoti had been found not guilty, he announced to the media that the judge's decision was a careful, well-thought-out, legally reasoned opinion.

In November 1997, Livoti was sentenced to seven months in prison on misdemeanor assault and reckless endangerment charges for choking and slapping 16-year-old Steven Resto. He remains free on $35,000 bail, pending an appeal.

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