John "Little Caesar" Acropolis was an American

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

leader who was killed on August 26, 1952. He served as president of Local 456 of the

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a diverse members ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

from 1946 until his death.

Background

Acropolis was orphaned at age three and raised in a series of charitable institutions. He attended

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

where he played on the basketball team. Acropolis became interested in union issues while working as a truck driver during summer break from college. He joined Local 456 and was first elected as a union officer in the early 1940s.

Death

After becoming president of Local 456, Acropolis challenged the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family (), also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and Ne ...

over its control of certain garbage carting contracts in the suburbs of New York City. He expanded the size of his local to more than 2,000 members. Acropolis was killed in 1952 by an unknown assailant who fired two bullets into his head. The case has not been solved. In October 2008, the

New York Civil Liberties Union The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is a civil rights organization in the United States. Founded in November 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, it is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with nearly ...

filed a lawsuit against the

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

Police Department, demanding access to the department's file on the investigation into the death of Acropolis. The City of Yonkers said fought the lawsuit, claiming that because the investigation was still technically active, the case file was not subject to

Freedom of Information laws Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatis ...

References

External links

NY Journal News report on NYCLU lawsuitNYCLU Press Release and link to lawsuitWCBS-TV report on lawsuit and Acropolis killing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acroplois, John 1952 murders in the United States American murder victims Deaths by firearm in New York (state) International Brotherhood of Teamsters people Trade unionists from New York (state) Unsolved murders in New York (state)

Background

Death

See also

References

External links