Charges against Ground Zero firefighters dropped
Authorities have dropped charges against 17 of the 18 firefighters arrested at a Ground Zero protest.
Five police officers were injured as firefighters stormed the site to protest against the scaling down of recovery operations.
The only case not dropped involves a firefighter who allegedly hit a police officer. The other charges were for criminal trespass and harassment.
New York Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, said: "What happened at Ground Zero...is unacceptable. But we want to be able to put this behind us."
Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, confirmed the charges will be dismissed and will not show up on the firefighters' records.
He said the decision had been made in light of the "extraordinary heroism" shown by emergency crews involved in the recovery operation, and the stress on victims' families.
As many as 2,500 firefighters were deployed at Ground Zero at the height of the rescue. A team of 50 firefighters is now working at the site.
