Violent clashes at a pro-Palestinian rally in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn on Saturday prompted some local officials and protest organizers to say police swarmed the neighborhood and used force against demonstrators. He said the incident reflected the unexpectedly aggressive police response.
At the rally, which drew hundreds of demonstrators, at least two police officers wearing white commander's shirts were filmed punching three protesters who were lying face down in the middle of a crosswalk. Ta. A 50-second video clip shows one of the officers pinning the man to the ground and punching him repeatedly in the ribs. Another officer punched the man in the left side of his face as his head pressed against the asphalt.
Police arrested about 40 people who “unlawfully obstructed the road,” said Kaz Daughtry, the department's deputy director of operations. said on social media on sunday.
Daughtry shared drone footage of a person who climbed onto a city bus and “put himself and others at risk.” He wrote that police “proudly protect everyone's right to protest, but unlawful behavior will never be tolerated.”
Neither Daughtry nor police would comment on the officers' use of force. A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams did not respond to a request for comment on the police response. The police department's patrol guide states that officers must use “only reasonable force necessary to obtain control or custody of the subject.”
Bay Ridge is home to a large Arab-American population, and in mid-May each year, Palestinians celebrate what they called the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians died during the war that led to the Israeli War. Demonstrations are held to commemorate people who were evacuated or forced from their homes. Founded in 1948.
Andrew Gounardes, a Democrat who represents the area in the state Senate, said local politicians had been in contact with the commander of the 68th Police Precinct ahead of the pre-planned protest and that police He said there was no indication that he would take such a harsh response. . He described the video he saw of the incident as “very disturbing.”
“Certainly it seems like the police were probably preparing for a much more aggressive, much more confrontational demonstration than in the past,” he added.
The area's City Council member, Democrat Justin Brannan, said the protests were smaller than last year, but that officers came from all over the city to police them. He said their approach appears to be directed by Manhattan's police headquarters, 1 Police Plaza.
“They weren't local cops. Obviously there was a zero-tolerance edict coming from 1PP and that escalated everything and made the situation worse,” Brannan said.
“I'm still waiting for information and details about the arrests,” he added, “but from my standpoint, this response is preemptive, retaliatory, and cumulatively… It appeared to be aggressive,” he added.
Alec Brooke-Krasny, a Republican state representative whose district includes part of Bay Ridge, had a different perspective. He said an investigation would determine whether the officers' actions were justified, but said some protesters were “breaking the law” by refusing to clear the road. .
“I think those bad apples really hurt other people's ability to express their opinions,” Brooke Krasny said.
Some local residents supported police and said they were tired of the destructive effects of the protests. Peter Cheris, 52, who has lived in Bay Ridge for 40 years, said he had seen videos of the protests and said, “Enough is enough.” “If you're going to break the law, it makes sense,” he said.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, highlighted the existence of the police department's Strategic Response Group, which is sometimes dispatched to protests and has been the subject of several lawsuits filed by the Civil Liberties Union and others. group.
Lieberman said in a statement that the police force's response to the protests “violates New Yorkers' right to speak out and risks chilling political expression.” “NYCLU protest monitors witnessed violent arrests, injuries to protesters, and even arrests of qualified members of the media.”
She added: “The NYPD's continued pattern of attacks against pro-Palestinian protesters raises important questions about the city's disparate treatment of speakers based on their messaging.”
Abdullah Akl, an organizer with the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, which organized the protest, said the response was particularly important for the annual demonstration in Bay Ridge, which is known to be frequented by families with children. said it surprised the organizers.
“It was a truly unusual and unprecedented response,” Akul said.
He said he witnessed two men being pushed to the ground. One of them can be seen in the video bleeding from the side of his face. Nerdeen Kiswani, chairman of Within Our Lifetime, said three protesters, including two who were seen being punched, were treated for injuries at hospital.
Police have arrested hundreds of demonstrators since street protests began shortly after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel's subsequent invasion of Gaza. The protests were largely peaceful, with few injuries and violent clashes.
The turning point came on April 30, when police cleared Columbia University's Hamilton Hall, which had been occupied by protesters for 17 hours. Many officers showed restraint during the arrests, but several were filmed pushing and dragging students out of the building.
On Sunday, Lieberman said the police response to the protests in Bay Ridge highlighted the importance of fulfilling the terms of a $512,000 settlement reached with the city this month by the Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society. . The settlement sets new conditions for how police departments manage protests, stipulating the number of officers that can be sent to demonstrations and creating a tiered system that limits the use of strategic response groups. Practical implementation will take many years.
The settlement is one of several stemming from the 2020 racial justice protests over George Floyd. Last year, the city agreed to pay $13.7 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged illegal police tactics violated the rights of protesters in Manhattan and Brooklyn. . In March, the city agreed to pay $21,500 each to about 300 people who participated in separate Black Lives Matter protests in the Bronx in 2020. According to the legal settlement, these people were locked up by police and later charged or beaten with batons.
andy newman and camille baker Contributed to the report.
