New York, NY, February 10, 1997...The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today applauded the jury's decision in the Crown Heights federal civil rights trial.

Sanford J. Schlesinger, Chair, ADL New York Regional Board and Adam G. Segall, Director ADL New York Regional Office offered the following statement:

Today's decision puts an end to five years of injustice. The 1991 Crown Heights riots, in which cries of "Kill the Jews" rang through the streets of Brooklyn, resonated in the hearts of all of us. Yankel Rosenbaum's murder is the kind of bias attack which effects the security of every New Yorker.

The convictions of Lemerick Nelson and Charles Price today begins to put closure on these events and is an important step towards healing the Crown Heights community and making us all feel a little safer.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.