Valley Stream ‘Moses’ has bombing charges reduced

Charges against Valley Streamer Stephen Figurasmith, who dressed up as Moses and doled out water with red food dye that was deemed “a false bomb or hazardous substance” in June, were reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor last Friday.

Figurasmith, 32, was arrested on June 14 while protesting the policy at the Nassau County Jail of making inmates work for less than minimum wage. As part of the protest, which was organized by Prison Abolitionists of Nassau Inciting Change, Figurasmith dressed up as Moses and attempted to deliver about 120 bottles of water containing red food coloring to Nassau County legislators. The move was meant to symbolize the first plague in the Old Testament Book of Exodus, which ultimately compelled the pharaoh to release the Jewish people from captivity.

“Drawing on the long faith-based tradition of human rights activism, we invoked the classic story of Moses and Pharaoh in order to call for an end to slave labor inside of the Nassau County jail and the replacement of the derelict jail oversight committee called the Board of Visitors,” Figurasmith said in a statement.

According to Figurasmith, each bottle was labeled as “safe and nontoxic,” with ingredients listed as water and red food coloring. He also said that he sent out press releases several days before declaring that PANIC, of which he is the cofounder, would be holding the nonviolent protest. “We went above and beyond to indicate what the contents of the bottles were,” he said.

His attorney, Ron Kuby, further said that Figurasmith and his co-defendant Suzanne Myron, a Woodbury resident who was dressed as Aaron, were not allowed into the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Garden City, but were directed to wait with their bottles on the front steps. After hours of standing and complying with the orders, Nassau County police arrested the pair, Kuby said.

Kuby previously said that the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office agreed to give Figurasmith an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, conditional upon Figurasmith staying out of further trouble. But District Court Judge Rhonda Fischer was not prepared to accept a plea agreement and dismiss the charges against Figurasmith on Friday, he said.

“Ultimately, it will be dismissed, but not today,” Kuby said.

Figurasmith is due back in the Nassau County District Court in Hempstead on Sept. 11.