A 21-year-old Bedford Stuyvesant man was charged with a misdemeanor in the now-infamous cat-kicking incident that ignited the ire of the Internet, said a spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorney.
Andre Robinson allegedly invited his friends to watch him kick the cat and then admitted to uploading the video to Facebook, according to the complaint. Robinson was charged with overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide proper sustenance for animals, the spokeswoman said.
In the video, which quickly went viral, Robinson can be seen allegedly luring and apparently feeding a friendly dark, white-footed cat before kicking it into the air like a football. The cat allegedly flew eight to ten feet in the air, the complaint alleged.
Robinson’s mother, Mary Kirby, allegedly confirmed he was in the video, according to the complaint. Veterinarian Dr. Robert Reisman, employed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the cat likely suffered “serious physical injury,” the complaint alleged.
Robinson was arraigned Tuesday and released on his own recognizance, the spokeswoman for the DA said. He has at least eight prior arrests, said police.
The incident, which allegedly took place near Bed Stuy’s Brevoort Houses, generated thousands of Facebook shares and furious commentary.
So far this year there have been nine people arrested for animal cruelty charges, police said. There were eight people arrested last year for the same time period.
