Two NYPD officers are suspended without pay after video showed them throwing a female protester to the ground and pulling a man's mask down to pepper spray him - as cops finally drop heavy-handed tactics during fifth night of curfew
Two NYPD officers have been suspended without pay after one cop was filmed violently throwing a female protester to the ground and the other was seen pulling a man's mask down to pepper spray him - as cops finally drop heavy-handed tactics during the eighth night of George Floyd demonstrations across the city.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced the suspensions on Friday saying both cases have been referred for disciplinary action. Neither of the officers were identified.
It comes amid mounting criticism of the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio over police officers' aggressive treatment of peaceful protesters after some cops were seen moving in on people without provocation and bashing them with batons.
Videos of both incidents, which occurred during the first week of protests in the city on May 29 and May 30, were widely circulated on social media and sparked calls for the officers involved to be punished.
In one video, one officer was seen forcefully shoving 20-year-old Dounya Zayer to the ground as she protested outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The cop had allegedly called her a 'stupid f***ing b***h before pushing her.
Zayer later shared updates from the hospital saying she suffered a seizure and a concussion from the attack.
The following day, a second officer was caught on video yanking down a man's coronavirus mask to pepper spray him. The man had been among a massive crowd of demonstrators in Brooklyn and had been holding his hands up.
The NYPD officer who was caught pulling a protester's mask down to pepper spray him last week (pictured) has been suspended without pay, Police Commissioner Shea announced on Friday
A second officer, who was seen violently shoving 20-year-old protester Dounya Zayer (pictured) to the ground during a Brooklyn protest last week, has also been suspended
Protests against the death of George Floyd and police brutality continued for an eighth night in New York City on Friday, but officers were considerably less aggressive in their tactics
A woman, identified as Courtney Taylor Mesidor, smiles at a police officer as he takes her photo during her arrest for breaking curfew
Crowds dwindled on their own at various locations, though officers in Brooklyn made at least a dozen orderly arrests while dispersing one group. Pictured: A man arrested on Park Avenue
Protesters denouncing systemic racism in law enforcement march in defiance of a citywide curfew
Commissioner Shea on Friday said the incidents were 'disturbing and run counter' to the principles of the NYPD.
'The actions by these officers stand apart from the restrained work of the thousands of other officers who have worked tirelessly to protect those who are peacefully protesting and keep all New Yorkers safe,' he said.
'While the investigations have to play out, based on the severity of what we saw, it is appropriate and necessary to assure the public that there will be transparency during the disciplinary process.'
Meanwhile, protests over the death of George Floyd and police brutality continued for an eighth night, despite threats of rain and the NYPD's 'no tolerance' crackdown on curfew-breakers that saw hundreds arrested this week.
Thousands braved the damp weather and continued marching after 8pm with police generally allowing them.
Crowds dwindled on their own at various locations, though officers in Brooklyn made at least a dozen orderly arrests while dispersing one group.
About an hour earlier and not far away, protesters Randy Williams exchanged a fist bump with officers, who steadily removed one hand from their batons to shake with demonstrators.
'I get in their faces every day not with hate, not with anger,' he told the Associated Press. 'My delivery may be a little rough but the message is the same. I don't dislike cops and I have been to prison. I don't hate cops. I hate bullies'
As another sizable group dispersed on the Upper West Side, some who were walking away bantered about not wanting to get arrested because they wanted to be back on the streets Saturday.
Police officers were far less aggressive in their enforcement on Friday. Pictured: A group of cops look on as demonstrators march along the streets of NYC.
A female protester holds up a 'Defund NYPD' sign as she marches down the street
Hundreds continued marching after curfew with police officers generally allowing them
On Park Avenue, police arrested a group of protesters after they continued marching after curfew
Police began moving in on crowds and carrying out arrests about an hour after curfew kicked in on Friday
Police continued their crackdown on curfew violators on Friday, but appeared to drop their aggressive tactics
The arrests come following an eighth day of demonstrations against police brutality across the city
A woman wearing a coronavirus mask is seen being escorted by police officers in riot gear in New York City
As police began moving in on crowds and carrying out arrests after curfew kicked in, cops eased up on their heavy-handed tactics and dispersed crowds with relatively little confrontation.
Earlier, about three hundred people had gathered in Union Square for a rally organized by medical professionals who have been battling the COVID-19 pandemic at its epicenter for the last three months.
One protester held a sign that read, 'You Clapped For Us, We Kneel For You,' referring to the ritual clapping New Yorkers do each night at 7pm to salute health care workers.
Crowds also got together to sing happy birthday to Breonna Taylor, a black woman and EMT who was shot and killed by Louisville police in March. A vigil was also held in Harlem, where 200 people gathered to mark her 27th birthday.
An in Brooklyn, about 1,000 people marched down Flatbush Avenue and past Barclays Center, which has been the site of many mass protests over the last week..
The violent flareups that characterized some demonstrations last weekend have almost entirely given way to peaceful affairs. Looting that occurred on Sunday and Monday also appears to have ceased.
The tension now has occurred around the city's 8pm curfew, with police at some protests using force to enforce the order barring assemblies.
Protests against racial injustice and police brutality carried on for an eighth day in New York City on Friday
Many marched down the streets of the city despite the threat of rain
A group of protesters gathered in the rain for a rally in Union Square late Friday afternoon
Earlier, Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier said he had personally seen 'no use of force around peaceful protests' and cast doubt on people who had, belying social media posts and witness accounts of officers moving on demonstrators without provocation and bashing them with batons.
De Blasio made the comment in response to questions at his morning news briefing about teams of officers aggressively breaking up a rally in the Bronx on Thursday, leading to scores of arrests and cries of brutality.
'What an absolute disgrace. This is just not true,' City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer tweeted afterward. 'You are gaslighting an entire City.'
However, the mayor also warned police officers would be investigated after videos emerged the previous night showing cops mistreating essential workers exempt from curfew such as food delivery workers and journalists.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said by 'willfully ignoring the evidence' of bystanders, reporters, observers and peaceful protesters being brutalized in plain sight, the mayor is emboldening the police to cause more harm.
'I guess at this point the mayor is delusional,' Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said officers at the Bronx rally were acting on information that some in the crowd were plotting to destroy property and attack police, citing posters he said that advertised the plan.
A woman holds up a placard of Breonna Taylor, who would have turned 27 today
Demonstrations across the city remain strong more than a week after the death of George Floyd
A NYPD police vehicle was splattered with red paint as demonstrators protest against police brutality
NYPD police officers walk along a street as demonstrators march for justice
Shea said police recovered a gun, gasoline and other weapons at the event, adding that officers had done a 'phenomenal job the last couple of nights.'
About 260 people were arrested, mostly for violating curfew.
Jake Offenhartz, a reporter for the news website Gothamist who was at the rally, challenged Shea's account at Friday's news briefing, saying what he saw firsthand 'is nothing like what you´re describing.'
Videos posted on Twitter showed helmeted officers charging the vocal but non-violent crowd, pushing protesters back with bicycles and bloodying some with batons.
De Blasio was skeptical, saying unnamed observers from City Hall 'saw a very different reality than what you saw.'
Shea, who gave a fiery speech Thursday denouncing a wave of vicious attacks on officers, said 'sometimes when you're in the middle of something, you don´t get to see the big picture too.'
On Friday evening, the department announced an arrest of two people in connection to a June 2 incident where a police officer was hit by an oncoming car, sending him flying into the street and leaving him in serious condition.
The police department's treatment of peaceful protesters, amid smash-and-grab sprees and sporadic unrest, has come under fire as demonstrations stretch into a second weekend, spurred by George Floyd's May 25 death in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee into Floyd´s neck.
After officers were recorded Wednesday shoving and hitting peaceful protesters as they enforced the curfew, it was Gov. Andrew Cuomo who doubted it happened, telling an Associated Press reporter that her question about the use of force was 'a little offensive' and 'incendiary rhetoric.'
Two NYPD officers are suspended without pay after video showed them throwing a female protester to the ground and pulling a man's mask down to pepper spray him - as cops finally drop heavy-handed tactics during fifth night of curfew
![Two NYPD officers are suspended without pay after video showed them throwing a female protester to the ground and pulling a man's mask down to pepper spray him - as cops finally drop heavy-handed tactics during fifth night of curfew]()
Reviewed by Your Destination
on
June 06, 2020
Rating:
No comments