Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺
Docket ID: 1:20-cr-00442
District Court, E.D. New York
Date filed: Oct 13, 2020
Date ended: January 19, 2023
Table of Contents
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Overview
On September 21, 2020, Baimadajie Angwang, a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, was arrested and charged with allegations of acting as an illegal agent of the People's Republic of China, wire fraud, making false statements, and obstructing an official proceeding. He faced up to 55 years in prison, and was considered a flight risk by the NYPD.
His case was identified as part of the China Initiative.
The government case partly relied on intercepted communications between Angwang and a consulate official. There was no allegation that Angwang compromised national security or NYPD operations. When prosecutors filed their case in 2020, they deemed him “the definition of an insider threat.”
In court documents, defense attorneys argued the government had a “hyper-suspicious” view of Angwang’s interactions with the Chinese consulate official and had cherry-picked quotes and cut out others from their conversations.
Although a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in the United States, then-NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea asserted that "Baimadajie Angwang violated every oath he took in this country. One to the United States, another to the U.S. Army, and a third to this Police Department."
On January 19, 2023, all charges against Angwang were abruptly dropped. U.S. prosecutors said they uncovered new information that warranted the dismissal without further explanation.
Contrary to most internal investigations based on court cases that had been dropped, NYPD did not reinstate Angwang and continued its internal investigation against him.
On September 26, 2023, the NYPD conducted an administrative trial against Angwang, accusing him of refusing to cooperate with the Bureau of Internal Affairs during their investigation into potential disciplinary actions stemming from the dropped federal spying case.
Angwang said he declined to appear before the investigators on the advice of his lawyers, because the NYPD refused to give them department documents ahead of the questioning that would have allowed them to prepare.
On January 29, 2024, New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban ordered the immediate firing of Angwang, saying he disobeyed an order to submit to questioning by internal affairs investigators about the spying case against Angwang under the "China Initiative."
In firing Angwang, Caban chose a harsher penalty than what was recommended by the NYPD disciplinary judge.
Personal Background
Angwang was born in China. He is of Tibetan ethnicity and a naturalized U.S. citizen.
After gaining asylum in the U.S. as a teenager, Angwang became a U.S. Marine and served in Afghanistan before being honorably discharged.
A resident of Long Island, Angwang joined NYPD in 2016 and worked at the 111th precinct in Queens as a member of the department's community affairs unit, earning a “Cop of the Month” award at his precinct in September 2018.
Angwang was a Staff Sergeant of the Army Reserve at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He was discharged from the Army Reserve on January 21, 2021, due to his arrest.
Federal Charges Dropped
On September 21, 2020, a handful of FBI agents pointed M4 rifles at Angwang's head and handcuffed him in front of his wife and 2-year-old daughter at his home on Long Island.
As one agent handcuffed Angwang, they asked, above the sound of his daughter’s wailing and the low rumbling of his car, “Do you speak English?”
Angwang spent six months in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn before he was granted bail. He was allowed only two individual one-hour meetings with his family and lawyer during the incarceration.
After Officer Angwang's lawyer John Carman reviewed classified evidence at the U.S. district court in Brooklyn, all charges against Officer Angwang were abruptly dropped on January 19, 2023.
During a brief court appearance, prosecutors said they were dropping charges “in the interest of justice.” U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee tried to prompt prosecutors to share what they could about their change of mind, but they declined to reveal what new information led them to do so, telling the judge that evidence remained classified.
Carman accused the government of hiding behind the Classified Information Procedures Act to avoid having to explain why the case was dropped. “The truth is that they are hiding behind CIPA in an effort to give the impression that this was a legitimate prosecution, which it was not,” Carman said in an interview. “Mr. Angwang is a great American who served his country in combat in Afghanistan and our government repaid him by treating him like he was the leader of the Taliban.”
NYPD Hearing and Termination
Although all the federal charges against Officer Angwang were dismissed in January 2023, NYPD failed to reinstate him.
Contrary to most internal investigations based on court cases that had been dropped, NYPD continued its internal investigation against Angwang.
In a letter sent to Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Restore The Fourth provided details of the continuing persecution of Officer Angwang. "We all need this unjust treatment to not become the norm… We seek justice for Officer Angwang, and call attention to the broader abuses committed by U.S. intelligence officials," the letter said.
On September 26, 2023, NYPD held an administrative trial against Angwang.
On January 29, 2024, New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban ordered the immediate firing of Angwang, saying he disobeyed an order to submit to questioning by internal affairs investigators about the spying case against Angwang under the "China Initiative."
Angwang said he declined to appear before the investigators last year on the advice of his lawyers, because the NYPD refused to give them department documents ahead of the questioning that would have allowed them to prepare.
In firing Angwang, Caban chose a harsher penalty than what was recommended by an NYPD disciplinary judge who held a hearing on the firing and listened to testimony and arguments from both sides.
The administrative judge, Vanessa Facio-Lince, found that Angwang violated department rules by disobeying the order to submit to internal affairs questioning.
Facio-Lince said, however, that he should not be terminated, after citing his good record as a police officer and praise by his superiors. Instead, she recommended an alternate manner of Angwang leaving the department that would allow him to negotiate some terms of his departure, including partial retirement benefits.
Angwang’s lawyer, Michael Bloch, said even the judge’s proposal was out of line with department disciplinary guidelines. Bloch said the maximum penalty Angwang should have faced was a 20-day suspension. Bloch said there have been many other officers who committed more serious misconduct and were allowed to keep their jobs, despite administrative judges recommending their firing.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Angwang told AP in a phone interview. “I have to continue to fight, not just for me, for anyone who were wrongfully accused in the past who’s getting the wrongful treatment I just got at this moment, or any potential discrimination victims in the future. I will not give up until I find the justice.”