Family of Allan Feliz & Legal Advocates Challenge Commissioner Tisch’s “Abuse of Discretion” in Preliminary Decision to Let Killer Cop Rivera Walk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, July 11, 2025

MEDIA CONTACTS: 

Tess Weiner, tess@justicecommittee.org, 224.213.5495

Family of Allan Feliz & Legal Advocates Challenge Commissioner Tisch’s “Abuse of Discretion” in Preliminary Decision to Let Killer Cop Rivera Walk

As the CCRB prepares response, Feliz family is joined by LatinoJustice PRLDEF, NYCLU, Center for Constitutional Rights and others to deliver a legal letter to the Commissioner

New York, NY — Today, the family of Allan Feliz was joined by Eric Vassell, father of Saheed Vassell (killed by NYPD in 2018), State Senator Julia Salazaar, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Justice Committee, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, New York Civil Liberties Union (NYLCU), Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), other civil rights and community organizations, and dozens of community members outside One Police Plaza to demand that NYPD Commissioner Tisch fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera — the officer who fatally shot 31-year-old Allan Feliz during an unjust traffic stop in 2019. The rally coincides with the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s (CCRB) deadline to submit a rebuttal of Tisch’s shocking preliminary ruling to overturn the guilty verdict issued against Lt. Rivera by her own Deputy Commissioner of Trials in February. 

Ashley Verdeja, the sister of Allan Feliz, recounted the suffering her family has endured for almost six years: “I am standing here today, yet again, because Commissioner Tisch refuses to do what’s right. When we learned that she had quietly issued a preliminary decision to overturn her own deputy commissioner’s guilty verdict—late in the day before a holiday weekend—it wasn’t just a slap in the face. It was retraumatizing. The disrespect the NYPD and Adams administration have shown my family is staggering.”

Alongside the Feliz family, advocates from LatinoJustice, NYCLU, CCR, Beldock, Levine & Hoffman and other legal institutions delivered a letter to Commissioner Tisch challenging the legality of her decision. The letter states, “the Preliminary Decision is wrong as a manner of law. It constitutes arbitrary and capricious agency action and an abuse of discretion.. It is at odds with the department’s stated position regarding the priority of the fact finder before the NYPD monitor. The Preliminary Decision exceeds the discretion afforded the police commissioner under the laws.”

“When the Feliz family finally got their day in court, Deputy Commissioner Maldonado looked Lieutenant Rivera in the eye, listened to his testimony, and determined that he was lying,” said Andrew Case, Supervising Council at PRLDEF. “Commissioner Tisch was not in the hearing room and did not see the testimony. She nevertheless decided that she was a better judge of credibility. But the hearing officer is the best person to judge witnesses—this is a basic principle of law that the Commissioner should have learned in law school. Tisch’s decision violates that principle and therefore constitutes an abuse of her discretion to impose discipline.”

“The Commissioner’s move to overturn her own Deputy Commissioner’s guilty verdict is not just shameful - it’s corrupt,” said Yul-san Liem, Deputy Director of Justice Committee. “ Tisch is retraumatizing the Feliz family, ignoring the findings of her own Deputy Commissioner, and trampling on city procedure to keep a killer cop on our streets. This is a self-interested political maneuver to gain favor within the NYPD and the police unions that is not based on the facts of the case. We are demanding she reverse course, uphold the guilty verdict and fire Jonathan Rivera immediately.

“Commissioner Tisch’s decision to overturn the recommendation of her own Deputy Commissioner of Trials is a blatant abuse of power. Lt. Jonathan Rivera killed Allan Feliz, a young man who was pulled over for not wearing his seatbelt. In what world does not wearing your seat belt warrant a death sentence? While Mr. Feliz’s family has been grieving his loss and fighting for accountability, Jonathan Rivera got away with murder and got a promotion. That’s not justice, that’s corruption. I’m calling on the Commissioner to immediately reverse her decision, and fire Lt. Rivera,” said Senator Julia Salazar.

"It's hard to accept that the known facts around the killing of Allan Feliz could lead to a determination of no wrongdoing, that his killer should remain on the force,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. “Lt. Rivera will walk away from this incident still an officer, while Allan cannot not walk away at all. My heart and voice are with his family. In the past, this commissioner has shown a willingness to increase accountability, and with it, trust. There's still a chance to change course and follow through on accountability."

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Background: 

On October 17, 2019, NYPD Lt. Jonathan Rivera (who was a sergeant at the time) and Officers Edward Barrett and Michelle Almanzar pulled Allan Feliz over on the corner of E 211 St and Bainbridge Ave for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt. Bodyworn camera (bwc) footage shows officers acknowledging that Mr. Feliz was wearing his seatbelt, but rather than allowing him to drive away, the officers escalated by illegally detaining him and attacking him. Lt. Rivera climbed into the passenger side of the car, tasered, beat and threatened to shoot Mr. Feliz, and then shot him point blank in the chest. After Mr. Feliz was shot, Officer Barrett yanked Mr. Feliz’s limp body from the car, exposing his genitals. None of the officers immediately covered Mr. Feliz or provided medical aid. Instead, they left Mr. Feliz to bleed out, cuffed, and exposed. 

After years of delays and obstruction, in May 2023, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated fireable charges against Lt. Rivera for the killing of Allan Feliz. The NYPD delayed the process further by failing to deliver the charges to Lt. Rivera so that a discipline trial could be scheduled for over a year. Finally, after multiple rallies and press conferences, the NYPD delivered the charges in June 2024 and a discipline trial was held in November 2024. In February 2025, Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado determined Lt. Rivera to be guilty of excessive force and assault in the first degree and recommended he be fired. 

In the months following, dozens of elected officials and 50 organizations added their voices to the demand that Lt. Rivera be fired. On July 3, the afternoon before a holiday weekend, Commissioner Tisch released a shameful and out-of-process announcement that she was reversing the guilty verdict against Lt. Rivera. In spite of the fact that this decision was reported on as final, the CCRB has five business days (until Friday 7/12) to respond, after which the Commissioner will make a final decision.

About the Justice Committee: Since the 1980s, the Justice Committee (JC) has worked to end police violence and systemic racism in NYC. We organize with families who have lost loved ones to the NYPD, train communities in CopWatch and ICE Watch, and develop grassroots alternatives to policing. Our work builds public safety rooted in care, not criminalization.