Michael Riccardi (born 1963)
[New York State Board of Corrections Records] is an
Italian American New Yorker infamous for his attempt to kill
Reverend Al Sharpton on
January 12,
1991. While Sharpton was leading a march in the
Italian neighborhood of
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn protesting the death of
Yusuf Hawkins,
[Lueck, Thomas. "City Settles Sharpton Suit Over Stabbing". New York Times, December 9, 2003.] who was shot and killed by
Italian Joseph Fama in the neighborhood 2 years earlier, Riccardi stabbed Sharpton in the chest with a five-inch knife.
[McFadden, Robert D. "Sharpton is Stabbed at Bensonhurst Protest". New York Times, January 13, 1991.]
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.
