A former local District Attorney is acquitted of perjury charges related to his handling of the fatal shooting of Edson Thevenin.
Joel Abelove was the D.A. in Rensselaer County in 2016 when he granted immunity to Troy Police officer Randall French before French gave testimony to a grand jury about the events that led him to shoot Edson Thevenin. The state Attorney General's office has maintained that Abelove had "whitewashed" the incident in a rush to help clear French.
French had said he fired at Thevenin after Thevenin pinned him with his vehicle during a traffic stop, but his version of the encounter was disputed. French has since died of complications related to COVID.
In recent days protestors have been outside the Rensselaer County Courthouse calling for justice for Thevenin.