Bernard Kerik, New York Police Commissioner on 9/11, dies at 69
NEW YORK — Bernard Kerik, who served as New York Metropolis’s police commissioner on 9/11 and later pleaded responsible to tax fraud earlier than being pardoned, has died. He was 69.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed his demise on Thursday on social media, saying it got here “after a personal battle with sickness.”
Former New York Metropolis Mayor Rudy Giuliani mirrored on his lengthy historical past together with his former police commissioner on his present Thursday.
“We’ve been collectively for the reason that starting. He’s like my brother,” Giuliani mentioned by way of tears. “I used to be a greater man for having recognized Bernie. I actually was a braver and stronger man.”
Kerik, an Military veteran, rose to the top of legislation enforcement earlier than a fall so steep that even a metropolis jail named after him was renamed.
In 2010, he pleaded responsible to federal tax fraud and false assertion prices, partially stemming from over $250,000 in residence renovations he obtained from a building agency that authorities say counted on Kerik to persuade New York officers it had no organized crime hyperlinks. He served three years in jail earlier than his launch in 2013.
President Donald Trump pardoned Kerik throughout a 2020 clemency blitz. Kerik was among the many company feting Trump after his first look in federal court docket in Florida in a case associated to his dealing with of categorised paperwork, attending the previous president’s remarks at his Bedminster, New Jersey, membership.
Kerik was appointed by Giuliani to function police commissioner in 2000 and was within the place through the Sept. 11, 2001, assaults.
He later labored for the previous main of New York Metropolis surrounding the efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss.
Patel described Kerik in a put up on social media as “a warrior, a patriot, and one of the brave public servants this nation has ever recognized.”
“He was embellished greater than 100 occasions for bravery, valor, and repair, having rescued victims from burning buildings, survived assassination makes an attempt, and introduced a number of the world’s most harmful criminals to justice,” he mentioned. “His legacy isn’t just within the medals or the titles, however within the lives he saved, the town he helped rebuild, and the nation he served with honor.”