Nationwide protests have continued for months in efforts to spread awareness of consistent police brutality and racial injustice in the country. Following the heartbreaking grand jury decision to not pursue charges against the cops who killed Breonna Taylor, protests erupted across the country this week. While an overwhelming majority of these protests are peaceful, police-initiated violence on demonstrators and bystanders of these movements continue to be shared on social media. A video of the New York Police Department (NYPD) went viral Monday in which officers arrested and tackled individuals in what is being described as an “unexpected attack.”
The incident occurred on Saturday. Officers can be seen moving towards protesters on a sidewalk following a march for Taylor. Footage shared on social media depicts the demonstrators standing outside of a restaurant before being tackled and arrested by multiple officers. Some officers carried batons as they ran up to the protesters. “We were free, dancing in the streets, alleviating our pain. We are in pain every single day, and they can’t even let us have that,” a protester told CBS News. Multiple protesters told the outlet they were dancing and having fun moments before police surrounded them with riot gear and seized their sound equipment.
“The police just came and stormed in and took our belongings … They swarmed us. We were peacefully assembled. There was nothing, no violence,” an organizer told CBS News. Things reportedly escalated when individuals marched to the 6th Precinct, where more officers awaited them. According to NBC News, police officials described the group as “roughly 150 demonstrators” who blocked traffic; however, footage from the incident and witnesses say otherwise.
Following a message played on a loudspeaker advising pedestrians not to walk in the street or roadway, officials allegedly ran towards protesters across the street, arresting them and pushing them into outdoor diners. "All of the sudden, the police all at once came running across the street toward the people watching them," Molly Dillon, a policy adviser to state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, told NBC News. "People were not in the street. People were not chanting. People were stopped to look at the 100 or 200 NYPD gathered around milling about.” Dillon added that no social distancing efforts were made by the officers and very few of them were wearing masks.
A former reporter with the Gothamist was also at the scene and shared the events leading up to the arrests. "The cops swarmed us, and started pushing people and shoving people into tables and making arrests," said Fishbein. "I've been to protests—I've seen the cops do their thing, but this was—I have not seen this. It was an unexpected attack," Rebecca Fishbein said on Twitter.
Many of the arrests took place in front of the Cowgirl, a restaurant. At least four people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of government administration, and for stepping into the roadway, the Gothamist reported. Others were given summons for disorderly conduct. “There were peaceful protesters, there was nothing really going on, and all of a sudden, all these cops on bikes rushed over here and they were running down, people were running down the street, and they ran into this whole restaurant area and were pushing people back and all our tables were scared,” Sue Williams, owner of the Cowgirl, told CBS News. Williams also noted that officers were “screaming in people’s faces.”
This is far from the first time that the NYPD has come under fire for its use of violent force against protesters. Earlier this month, individuals protesting tactics used by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were arrested in Times Square after locking arms and refusing to leave the street. A number of these demonstrators also faced charges of disorderly conduct. Daily Kos reported NYPD officers arresting, pepper spraying, and shoving protesters who were marching on the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in June. Additionally, multiple reports of officers attacking peaceful protesters were shared on social media following the violent murder of George Floyd.
Despite the increasing use of force by NYPD officials against protesters, Mayor Bill de Blasio has maintained that there has been “no strategy change” in the way the department handles its affairs. During a news conference Wednesday, he noted police have “clear ground rules, usable ground rules,” on when arrests should be made following protests. "The bigger reality here is returning to what worked and did protect peaceful protest of all kinds, all beliefs for decades is just clear ground rules, usable ground rules, and then if someone chooses to violate, for example, through civil disobedience, fine. Then you're warned you're going to be arrested, and many people choose to be arrested,” de Blasio said.
But not all politicians are dismissing the actions of the police. New York Sen. Brad Holyman, whose district includes the area where arrests took place, got onto Twitter to share that he would follow up with the department on its use of force. "We're exhausted of seeing video after video, and hearing from constituents in person, of inexplicable escalations that undermine an already fragile trust," he wrote on Twitter. Additionally, he issued a statement Sunday in which he noted that a majority of the officers were not wearing masks, which sends a “poor message” given the pandemic the country is in. “The bottom line is that on a beautiful Saturday evening, bystanders and peaceful protesters in the Village were charged at by police and thrown to the ground in a really disturbing escalation of force by law enforcement,” he said.