http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/05/nyregion/ken-thompson-brooklyn-district-attorney-cancer.html 2016-10-04 22:00:13 Ken Thompson, Brooklyn District Attorney, Says He Has Cancer and Will Take Leave Elected in 2013 on an agenda of reform and racial justice, Mr. Thompson had earned a reputation as both an advocate for minority communities and a tough law-enforcement officer. === Ken Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, said on Tuesday that he had recently been told he had cancer and would take a sick leave. Mr. Thompson’s chief assistant, Eric Gonzalez, would take over as interim district attorney during “the absences occasioned” by Mr. Thompson’s “treatment and recovery,” Mr. Thompson said in a statement. “As a man of intense faith, I intend to fight and win the battle against this disease,” Mr. Thompson said. “I humbly seek your sincere prayers as I confront this challenge and respectfully ask that you honor my family’s need and wish for privacy during this time.” He did not say what type of cancer he has. The news of Mr. Thompson’s illness comes three years after he was elected, becoming Brooklyn’s first black district attorney. He defeated Charles J. Hynes, an incumbent of more than 20 years who had been weakened by accusations of favoritism toward political supporters in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community and of allegations of campaign-finance improprieties. Mr. Thompson, 50, had previously had a successful private law practice; he represented Nafissatou Diallo, a Manhattan hotel housekeeper who, in 2011, accused the French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in Mr. Thompson, a Democrat, had also worked as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn and delivered a memorable closing argument at the trial of Justin Volpe, a police officer who Having run on an agenda of reform and racial justice, Mr. Thompson, once in office, earned a reputation as both an advocate for minority communities in a section of the city known for its divisions between black and white residents and, simultaneously, as a tough law-enforcement officer who concentrated on cracking down on gun crimes and violent street gangs. Brushing aside the resistance of the New York Police Department, he announced in July 2014 that his office would stop prosecuting most low-level marijuana arrests. He also put in place a regular amnesty program for people with outstanding warrants. Among his best-known efforts was the creation of one of the country’s most robust internal units dedicated to reviewing wrongful convictions, which in the last two years has exonerated 20 defendants. Perhaps the biggest case of his tenure was the prosecution earlier this year of Though he did not shy away from mounting an aggressive case against Mr. Liang, after the trial was over Mr. Thompson decided, in Solomonic fashion, to seek no prison time for the former officer, a move that enraged Mr. Gurley’s family and led to