Michael Riccardi

Michael Riccardi (born 1963) is a New Yorker who attempted to kill Reverend Al Sharpton on January 12, 1991. While Sharpton was leading a march in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn protesting the death of Yusuf Hawkins, who was shot and killed by Joseph Fama in the neighborhood 2 years earlier, Riccardi stabbed Sharpton in the chest with a five-inch knife. Riccardi, whose criminal past included convictions for assaulting a police officer and weapons possession, was apprehended by Sharpton's security detail and was turned over to the NYPD officers that were in the area monitoring the march. Sharpton sued the city for failing to protect him.

In 1992, he was convicted of first-degree assault. Sharpton asked the judge for leniency when sentencing Riccardi.

The judge sentenced Riccardi to five to 15 years in jail, and he served ten years in prison being released on parole on January 8, 2001. Sharpton visited Riccardi in prison, and Riccardi apologized to him in an emotional jailhouse meeting, and also asked forgiveness from Sharpton's family.

Quotes

 * "I thought the act would make me a hero in my community, but of course it didn't work out..." -Riccardi's comment on why he stabbed the Reverend Al Sharpton.