Fughedddaboudit! For a routine court hearing the sparks really flew Wednesday.
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa claimed John Gotti Jr. threatened him inside Manhattan federal court today -- however Gotti's side offered an innocent explanation.
As marshals were leading Gotti back to the lock-up at the end of a routine pre-trial hearing, he pointed to the audience and said something about "going down."
Sliwa cursed, gave the mob scion the middle finger and claimed Gotti had been talking to him.
"He turned to the side that we are always on and he eye-fornicated me," said Sliwa, who was sitting in the courtroom's back row with four supporters. "He had that serious as a heart attack look and he pointed at me directly and said 'You're going down.' I flipped him the bird and said F-you. And he had a big dumb grin on his face and just walked off into lockup."
However defense attorney John Meringolo said Gotti had been talking to his defense team, saying they were "going down" to a lower floor for an attorney client meeting.
"After the proceeding Mr. Gotti looked in the audience and requested that one of the members of his defense team accompany me downstairs to discuss the proceedings and what's needed to be done next," Meringolo said.
Sliwa was having none of that. Outside court, he alleged that Gotti was making a point. Thugs allegedly working for Gotti had ambushed and shot Sliwa in 1992. This Friday, June 19th, is the anniversary of that attack, and Sliwa claimed Gotti knew it.
"Why did he purposely turn around and face me," Sliwa said.
Meringolo said Sliwa was making a big deal out of nothing.
"All Mr. Gotti said was please go downstairs," the lawyer said. "He was not making any kind of communication with Mr. Sliwa whatsoever."
Gotti is facing trial for the fourth time on a variety of racketeering charges that he ran the Gambino crime family, once ruled with an iron fist by his father, John Gotti Sr. Gotti Jr. has pleaded innocent, saying that he had abandoned the mob life a decade ago.
