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Source: Councilman Offered Gunman Cash
Associated Press | 7/24/03 | Michael Weissenstein

Posted on 07/24/2003 8:21:04 PM PDT by Alberta's Child

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hours before he gunned down Councilman James Davis, Othniel Askew told the FBI that Davis offered him $45,000 to give up a primary election challenge - and threatened to hurt his family if he did not, law enforcement sources said Thursday.

Askew, in what investigators described as a rambling statement, also claimed Davis threatened to expose him as gay, the sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

A City Council spokeswoman called the allegations "preposterous," and investigators said they have not corroborated Askew's claims.

But the claims underscore the complex, volatile relationship between the two men before their paths crossed one final, fatal time - when Askew walked into City Hall by Davis' side Wednesday, then shot him dead in the council chamber.

By Thursday, two starkly different portraits of Askew had emerged - one as a Davis protege, another as a fierce political rival.

Askew showed up at Davis' offices in Brooklyn on Wednesday - as he had several times in recent weeks - and asked if they could go to City Hall together. Davis agreed, and both men were waved past a metal detector when they arrived.

Inside, on a balcony overlooking the council chambers, Askew shot Davis several times in the torso, sparking chaos on the second floor of City Hall. A police officer shot Askew seconds later. Askew and Davis died shortly thereafter.

Hours before the shooting, Askew called the FBI and said Davis, a 41-year-old, first-term councilman, "had used language that Askew had interpreted as that Davis was threatening to hurt his family somehow," one law enforcement official said.

Besides the $45,000 payment, Askew claimed Davis had offered him $15,000 a year and a no-show staff job, and offered to sell him a building in Brooklyn for $1, law enforcement sources said.

The FBI has said only that a man identifying himself as Askew called its New York office to charge that Davis was harassing him over the upcoming primary election. They said the man made no threats of violence against Davis.

Askew had filed papers to run against Davis in the Democratic primary this fall, but he did not have the requisite signatures to enter the race. City Councilman Kendall Stewart said Davis had apparently made a deal with Askew in which the aspiring politician agreed not to run.

Members of Davis' staff say the councilman considered himself a mentor to the 31-year-old Askew. They said there was no indication in the final weeks of Davis' life that there was bad blood between the two.

"James didn't hold a grudge," said Lupe Todd, a City Council spokeswoman.

Of Askew's claim to the FBI that Davis had threatened him, Todd said: "It sounds a bit preposterous." She declined to comment further.

Janet Minto, Davis' chief of staff, also declined to address the councilman's ties to Askew. "There is no explanation of this tragedy," she said in a statement.

In his campaign fliers, Askew identified himself as a devoted community member who had an accounting degree. He said he was an Air Force medical specialist honorably discharged as a sergeant in 2001. An Air Force spokeswoman confirmed he had served in the military, but could not provide other details.

In Askew's house in Brooklyn, investigators found Davis campaign posters that appeared to have been torn down, police sources said Thursday. They also found anti-depressant medication prescribed to Askew, the sources said.

Court records show Askew was charged with assault in 1996 and accused of beating his domestic partner with a hammer. Askew pleaded guilty to harassment and signed an order agreeing to stay away from the man.

David Sasser, who owns a gun dealership in Sneads Ferry, N.C., said Askew bought a $600 handgun from him in 2001. He said there was nothing unusual about the sale. "He had all the paperwork," Sasser said.

Also Thursday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg tightened security at City Hall, saying the only people allowed past security with guns would be on-duty law enforcement officials - not off-duty or retired officers. Davis, a former police officer, was carrying a holstered gun Wednesday, but did not draw the weapon.

As Bloomberg returned to work about 7:30 a.m., he set his keys and newspapers on a conveyor belt and walked through a metal detector. Previously the mayor and council members were allowed to walk around the machine, sometimes with their guests.

Richard Burt, the officer who killed Askew with four bullets, was promoted to detective investigator at a ceremony in City Hall. He offered condolences to Davis' family and played down his own quick thinking.

"I don't consider myself a hero," said Burt, a nine-year police veteran. "I just did my job. I did what I was trained to do."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cityhallmurder; jamesdavis; newyork; othnielboazaskew
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Some more of the details about this case are being released on the local news here in New York. It's starting to look as if this guy Othniel Askew was quite a homosexual freak -- this is the first I've heard of his previous arrest for assaulting a former, uh, ""sweetheart" of his.
1 posted on 07/24/2003 8:21:04 PM PDT by Alberta's Child
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To: Alberta's Child
I think he was a few cards short of a deck!
2 posted on 07/24/2003 8:26:41 PM PDT by MEG33
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To: Alberta's Child
Besides the $45,000 payment, Askew claimed Davis had offered him $15,000 a year and a no-show staff job, and offered to sell him a building in Brooklyn for $1, law enforcement sources said.

I'd kill anyone who offered me all that, too!

3 posted on 07/24/2003 8:28:50 PM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: Alberta's Child
You have to be wrong, Child. Gays are just that, gay; they can't hurt people.
4 posted on 07/24/2003 8:31:13 PM PDT by thegreatbeast (Quid lucrum istic mihi est?)
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To: Alberta's Child
Seriously, Askew sounds crazy. Paranoid delusions or something. Why would Davis either offer him money to quit, or threaten him physically to get him to quit, considering Askew couldn't get enough signatures in time and so couldn't run against him anyway?

The sad thing is that Davis apparently trusted him.
5 posted on 07/24/2003 8:32:28 PM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: dead
cherchez le homme...
6 posted on 07/24/2003 8:36:57 PM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: thegreatbeast
And Askew was described as a former "military man," so he must have been either a tailgunner or a rear admiral.
7 posted on 07/24/2003 8:37:30 PM PDT by Alberta's Child
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To: Alberta's Child
The local Fox affiliate in New York (channel 5) also reported that a search of Askew's apartment revealed anti-depression and HIV medication.
8 posted on 07/24/2003 8:40:59 PM PDT by HateBill
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To: HateBill
Delightful. This guy was some freak, huh?
9 posted on 07/24/2003 8:53:32 PM PDT by Alberta's Child
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To: Alberta's Child
Isn't attacking your 'life partner' a domestic assault?

How'd he pass the background to buy the gun a few years later?

Or are the rules different for same sex domestic violence?
10 posted on 07/24/2003 8:58:00 PM PDT by frostbit (Non Sibi, sed Patriae. "Not self, but country.")
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To: Alberta's Child
This is the Democratic Party of Brooklyn, the level of corruption is on par with Robert Mugabe, nothing is beyond the pale amongst this gang.
11 posted on 07/24/2003 8:58:23 PM PDT by oceanview
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To: Alberta's Child
File this one under 'Multiculturalism' and 'Democratic Diversity.' I love it when the freaks are oozing out of the RAT cloisters.
12 posted on 07/24/2003 9:06:57 PM PDT by WorkingClassFilth (Defund NPR, PBS and the LSC.)
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To: HateBill
Court records show Askew was charged with assault in 1996 and accused of beating his domestic partner with a hammer.

...a search of Askew's apartment revealed anti-depression and HIV medication.

The only part of this story that will be relevant to the popular media is, "the gun".

13 posted on 07/24/2003 9:23:40 PM PDT by elbucko
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To: elbucko
David Sasser, who owns a gun dealership in Sneads Ferry, N.C., said Askew bought a $600 handgun from him in 2001. He said there was nothing unusual about the sale. "He had all the paperwork," Sasser said.

He lived in NYC; how could he buy a gun in North Carolina?
14 posted on 07/24/2003 9:46:40 PM PDT by ARCADIA (Abuse of power comes as no surprise)
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To: hellinahandcart
there were two other "serious" candidates - one who ran against Davis before. Askew was a political nobody. Also, he blew the time for filing election papers. Davis offered this guy nothing.
15 posted on 07/24/2003 10:13:24 PM PDT by Shermy (Vegas!!! It's not just CSI)
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To: Shermy
Davis offered this guy nothing.

I know that, but it's proof Askew wasn't living in the same dimension as the rest of us. He didn't just make that claim, he made it to the FBI, right before he killed him.

I also heard something last night about how he had wanted Davis to sign a paper stating that, if anything were to happen to him, Askew was to be "council designee" in his place. Now that's just plain illegal, but it also shows Askew wasn't operating in the real world anymore.

I can't tell yet if Askew was obsessed with wanting to be Davis, or just plain obsessed with Davis.

16 posted on 07/25/2003 3:52:11 AM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: frostbit
How'd he pass the background to buy the gun a few years later?

He must have pleaded to a misdemeanor.

17 posted on 07/25/2003 3:57:01 AM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: ARCADIA
He lived in NYC; how could he buy a gun in North Carolina?

He was in the Air Force. Maybe he was stationed there and claimed NC as his residence?

18 posted on 07/25/2003 4:41:06 AM PDT by Gritty
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To: Gritty
Are New Yorkers barred from buying guns in other states, or something? I know Rudy and Georgie and Bloomie would like that, but as far as I know, it's never become a law...
19 posted on 07/25/2003 4:51:15 AM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: hellinahandcart
Are New Yorkers barred from buying guns in other states, or something?

Gun dealers are generally prohibited from selling pistols (and usually long guns) to somebody from out of state and this article referenced the gun dealer he bought it from. A person may possibly buy a a firearm from out of state but the firearm can only be shipped state-to-state through a registered gun dealer in the state of his residence, which requires all local laws are followed.

New York has very strict handgun laws and you cannot even own, much less buy a handgun in New York without a permit (unless you are a criminal, and then they are very easy to get). My guess is he bought this handgun in North Carolina from a dealer and did so legally as a resident at the time, probably stationed at Pope AFB as the article refers to him being an AF veteran.

To own and carry a pistol in New York, he would need a very extensive, expensive and lo-o-oong permitting process. My bet is, he didn't go through this almost impossible process but owned and carried it "illegally". However, it is possible he was carrying legally, as he was a "politican", and these special people are more easily able to get the required owning/carrying permit, unlike the ordinary serfs of New York.

The fact the media reports are silent on the details indicates to me something funny went on. He probably used some political connections to get a permit, otherwise the papers would be screaming about the "illegal" gun which found it's nefarious way into NY from North Carolina - a "loophole" that just has to be plugged by another law!

20 posted on 07/25/2003 6:06:53 AM PDT by Gritty
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