A Black activist at the forefront of New York’s Black Lives Matter protests was met with police helicopters, police dogs, and banging at the front door of his Manhattan apartment Friday. Protesters had shown up to advocate for Derrick Ingram amid the dozens of responding officers, some in tactical gear, employed to arrest the 28-year-old man. Police spokeswoman Jessica McRorie told The New York Times the offense Ingram was guilty of was yelling in an officer's ear with a megaphone, which police deemed assault.
“What did I do? What did I do?” Ingram reportedly said during the encounter. “I was born Black, that’s what I did.”
Ingram turned himself in Saturday on a charge of second-degree assault stemming from a protest on June 14. The prosecutor, however, agreed to have the charge reduced to misdemeanor assault, and Ingram was released without bail, according to The New York Times.
“Our office does not condone the extraordinary tactics employed by police on Friday,” Danny Frost, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office told The New York Times. “These actions were disproportionate to the alleged offense that occurred two months ago, and unjustifiably escalated conflict between law enforcement and the communities we serve.”
WARNING: This video contains profanity.