Baltimore, MD - Prosecutor Who Dropped Charges Against Shomrim Member Accused of Bias

Baltimore, MD - Baltimore’s new state’s attorney says his decision to drop a felony assault charge against a member of an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch group accused of attacking a black teenager was based on the evidence.

The teenager’s attorney said after the decision that State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein was being soft on Jewish hate crime because he is Jewish. Bernstein said his decision was based only on the evidence in the case.

Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon claims his client was targeted because he is black.

The felony charge was dropped Thursday against 23-old Eliyahu Werdesheim, a former Israeli special-forces soldier, who still faces misdemeanor charges. Werdesheim’s brother, 20-year-old Avi Werdesheim, also faces misdemeanor charges in the case.