Wounded, bruised protesters testify to decry New York City police violence

By Jonathan Allen

 

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators hold signs on the Brooklyn Bridge during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., June 13, 2020. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dana Kopel testified that New York City police kicked her in the jaw and bound her wrists so tightly with zipties her hands turned blue, leaving one hand numb with nerve damage weeks after she marched through the Bronx to protest the killing of George Floyd.

 

Jeffrey Castillo displayed cuts on his knees, bruises on his arms and a scar on his shoulder he said was caused after six officers knocked him off his bike while he chanted against police violence in Manhattan's West Village.

 

One by one, some of the protesters who have filled city streets since Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody in May described being injured by New York Police Department officers at a virtual public hearing called by state Attorney General Letitia James, which spilled into a second day on Thursday.

 

Michael Sternfeld said police knocked him and other protesters to the ground while chasing them out of a Brooklyn park on June 3 for defying an 8 p.m curfew, scenes that were captured in cellphone videos.

 

"Shame on you, to all the NYPD, for acting like childish bullies, a gang of cowards with weapons and shields to hide behind and badges to justify their action," Sternfeld told the hearing, which was streamed online because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

 

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea have defended the NYPD's response to protesters as mostly proportionate, saying misconduct was limited to isolated cases that were being investigated.

 

Both have pointed to several nights of looting that marked some of the earlier protests, widespread property damage and instances of protesters hurling projectiles at police officers, injuring them.

 

In late May, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was alarmed by "disturbing violent clashes" between NYPD officers and protesters, and appointed James to investigate and produce a report within 30 days.

 

The hearing was a chance for protesters to share their anger with investigators at their treatment by police during protests that have become daily occurrences in New York and dozens of other cities after Floyd's death.

 

James said she had received hundreds of written submissions from protesters and cellphone videos of armored police hitting people with batons and pepper spray.

 

Elected officials and civil rights groups also testified, the majority criticizing what they described as mostly unprovoked police aggression.

James said the NYPD and the Mayor's office declined multiple invitations to participate in the public hearing.

 

The NYPD said in a statement it received no "formal invitation" to join but was cooperating with the investigation. The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment.

 

One officer, Vincent D'Andraia, was arrested and charged with assault after he was seen in videos calling Dounya Zayer, a protester in Brooklyn, a "bitch" before violently pushing her down, her head hitting the tarmac. He has pleaded not guilty.

 

Zayer testified that she suffered a seizure a few minutes later and protesters helped her get to a hospital while scores of officers walking by ignored her plight.

 

After her testimony, James appeared onscreen again to thank her, saying: "I just want you to know that the officers involved fortunately really don't reflect the vast majority of the officers of the NYPD."

 

Zayer replied with visible anger: "Thank you for your sympathy, but I don't want to hear that there are good cops when not a single good cop helped me and I'm afraid to even leave my house now."

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; editing by Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-19

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

now lets hear from the cops that have been shot, attacked and beaten up by protesters and other criminals

PATHETIC now bring the injured Cops and Secret Service in to testify.  America is going down the toilet with it's pc liberalism. 

I watched the Hong Kong riots with dismay and have now been watching the same thuggery in America. Protesting according to your beliefs is one thing but vandalism, looting and attacking Police with potentially deadly force deserves an equally harsh reply.

What amazes me is the makeup of the so called protestors, in the most violent clashes the number of white females is astounding, they certainly cannot be called Ladies. 
As to Police brutality there is no doubt some of them have been pushed too far and I have watched videos of them being taunted, threatened and spat on , if they give that person a splash of face paint ( mace ) I know it is wrong but I couldn’t condemn them.

As a non American I will not comment on your politics but for the sake of your and our future I hope you get your act together.

4 hours ago, PJPom said:

I watched the Hong Kong riots with dismay and have now been watching the same thuggery in America. Protesting according to your beliefs is one thing but vandalism, looting and attacking Police with potentially deadly force deserves an equally harsh reply.

What amazes me is the makeup of the so called protestors, in the most violent clashes the number of white females is astounding, they certainly cannot be called Ladies. 
As to Police brutality there is no doubt some of them have been pushed too far and I have watched videos of them being taunted, threatened and spat on , if they give that person a splash of face paint ( mace ) I know it is wrong but I couldn’t condemn them.

As a non American I will not comment on your politics but for the sake of your and our future I hope you get your act together.

I have seen plenty of footage of people protesting peacefully, and not provoking the police in any way, being shoved out of the way (and falling down and hurting themselves as a result of that), being clubbed with batons, shot with rubber bullets, tear gassed, and so on. In case you forgot, people have the right to protest, it’s in the first amendment of the constitution:

 

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Morons could have stayed home and would be fine

A post with a video from an unapproved source that contained profane language has been removed. 

Shame on these brutal cops. I had the misfortune to live in NJ some few miles from NYC...and the many of the cops are simply dreadful people....bullies from the schoolyard given guns, badges and uniforms.....remember Clockwork Orange?

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change”

 

Mary Wollstonecraft

2 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

I have seen plenty of footage of people protesting peacefully, and not provoking the police in any way, being shoved out of the way (and falling down and hurting themselves as a result of that), being clubbed with batons, shot with rubber bullets, tear gassed, and so on. In case you forgot, people have the right to protest, it’s in the first amendment of the constitution:

You mean like the viral photo from live video footage published by the BBC online news website, deliberately cropped to hide the arm of a "peaceful protester" brandishing a weapon brandished at police?

 

Maybe the genuine peaceful protesters should tell their violent, club-waving, brick-throwing, window-smashing, car-burning, property-wrecking left-wing thug associates rom Antifa to take a powder.

Edited June 19, 20206 yr by Krataiboy

2 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

You mean like the viral photo from live video footage published by the BBC online news website, deliberately cropped to hide the arm of a "peaceful protester" brandishing a weapon brandished at police?

 

Maybe the genuine peaceful protesters should tell their violent, club-waving, brick-throwing, window-smashing, car-burning, property-wrecking left-wing thug associates rom Antifa to take a powder.

They can't tell the brick-throwing thugs anything since most of those instigators are undercover cops and right-wing outsiders planted to unleash the cops on those same peaceful protesters. Who do you think benefits from that behavior? I saw it happen up close and personal in late '60s. Same tactics, right out of their playbook.

Edited June 19, 20206 yr by Mac98
Add clarification.

4 hours ago, Deli said:

Morons could have stayed home and would be fine

Damn right. Just do what you are told. Injustice my butt, that’s the way it is ...live with i5. That is the history of the world. Yea, except when citizens have there fill and rise up ... upsetting The the way things are,  isn’t it?

22 minutes ago, Mac98 said:

They can't tell the brick-throwing thugs anything since most of those instigators are undercover cops and right-wing outsiders planted to unleash the cops on those same peaceful protesters. Who do you think benefits from that behavior? I saw it happen up close and personal in late '60s. Same tactics, right out of their playbook.

If true, sounds like a good story for the mass media which appears to be almost exclusively pro-BLM and Antifa. All you need are some facts, rather than assertions.

 

The blacks need to stop committing most of the crimes then ,if that happened eventually they wouldn’t be looked down upon , even by their own

9 hours ago, Foghorn said:

George Floyd was a no good useless piece of @£&# ,. If he had been an upstanding citizen maybe he wouldn’t of been apprehended 

So I guess you would advocate that white folks who have a record should be just shot down without proper process?

15 minutes ago, scorecard said:

So I guess you would advocate that white folks who have a record should be just shot down without proper process?

No not at all.  I still remember the hordes of whites   rioting and looting after a white person was wrongly shot by the police. 

I got my self a  plasma TV then and a nice pair of red  Nike shoes 

Edited June 19, 20206 yr by sirineou

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

So I guess you would advocate that white folks who have a record should be just shot down without proper process?

Don’t understand the link, was Floyd shot down without due process ?

 

Here’s 4 black gentlemen, 3 murdered and one seriously injured by rioters.

I mourn their lack of ‘proper process’ and that they died trying to protect others. Personally, I had only heard about David Dorn, a retired police officer, gunned down by looters whilst helping a friend protect a shop. Floyd is now a worldwide name.

Whom people choose to raise as an idol for a cause is their choice but has its consequences. 

I know who has more of my respect from these gentlemen.

 

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by realfunster
Spelling

15 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

You mean like the viral photo from live video footage published by the BBC online news website, deliberately cropped to hide the arm of a "peaceful protester" brandishing a weapon brandished at police?

 

Maybe the genuine peaceful protesters should tell their violent, club-waving, brick-throwing, window-smashing, car-burning, property-wrecking left-wing thug associates rom Antifa to take a powder.

On your last point,better still make antifa a banned organisation

17 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

I have seen plenty of footage of people protesting peacefully, and not provoking the police in any way, being shoved out of the way (and falling down and hurting themselves as a result of that), being clubbed with batons, shot with rubber bullets, tear gassed, and so on. In case you forgot, people have the right to protest, it’s in the first amendment of the constitution:

 

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

one word lets the protesters down - peaceaby,

 

i see they can assemble for a riot with no covid-19 restrictions, but the inquiry is virtual

On 6/19/2020 at 12:59 PM, webfact said:

One by one, some of the protesters who have filled city streets since Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody in May described being injured by New York Police Department officers at a virtual public hearing called by state Attorney General Letitia James, which spilled into a second day on Thursday.

Keep attacking the cops for doing their jobs and they may decide to not police protests and let the "protestors" run amok, burning and looting.

What are you going to do then Letitia?

I bet the mayor is packin' it as he runs the risk of falling out with the mob or the police. He knows he might not get re elected if he loses the mob, but the city may burn if he loses the cops.

 

If I were a NY cop I'd be asking for a strike to let the mayor know what happens when the mob rules.

23 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Shame on these brutal cops. I had the misfortune to live in NJ some few miles from NYC...and the many of the cops are simply dreadful people....bullies from the schoolyard given guns, badges and uniforms.....remember Clockwork Orange?

I remember Clockwork Orange well. A scum thug got away with his crimes because politicians were gutless and manipulated by the mob.

 

One day those cops you despise may go on strike and who ya gonna call when the crims break down your door to rape and murder.

Social workers don't make good cops against the hard core crims.

Most sensible people know when it's time to get out of the way or leave. Those who are stupid get themselves in trouble then claim it's someone else's fault.

Another troll post using a trolling meme has been removed. 

I suppose I'm a racist for even wondering such a question, but here goes:

 

We keep hearing about how many black men police kill. Why is no one asking how many black men kill police?

 

And even zooming further out, what about the number of crimes thugs commit in general anway? Hey, it's noble to expect police to behave properly and be outraged when they don't. But how about some perspective? Whining about police brutality when in one weekend, dozens are killed and many more assaulted in cities like Chicago, whining about police brutality is like sticking your finger in a dyke leak as the entire dyke is crumbling.

 

The problem, of course, is liberalism. Liberals literally hate America. And destroying law and order and stoking hatred is one of the key tactics to achieving their outcome.

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by Crazy Alex

Liberal cities with radical social policies, created by politically correct politicians that seem to want to let crime go unpunished during what started out peaceful that ended up with mayhem the likes of even MLK  ,couldn't and wouldn't comprehend while millions of scared  people watched on their tv's seeing cities burning,reminds me of the night of the broken glass.

Some on the left refuse to recolonize how dangerous  their silence is !

Go out and protest,during civil unrest, and mayhem on cities streets ,see how that works!

  When the men and women who help protect these cities citizens and property (law enforcement) protest,who ya gonna call!

"Most of the looters and rioters arrested by the NYPD over the past several days are immediately released as a direct result of New York’s new bail-reform law, New York City police chief Terrence Monahan told the New York Post on Tuesday".

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/george-floyd-protests-arrested-looters-in-new-york-city-are-immediately-released-due-to-bail-reform-law/

 

Maybe these protesters were inspired by  cnn coumo show, when he said  "show me where it says protesters are suppose to be polite and peaceful ".

https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnns-chris-cuomo-blasted-for-suggesting-protesters-dont-have-to-be-peaceful

 

The city of NY put out curfews during those riots and protests,with hundreds being arrested for disobeying the curfew while cops being stabbed  in the head,hit in the head with skateboards,trash barrels ,slammed by cars intentionally ,spit on,bricks stacked up and stored strategically at city locations used as weapons,looters stealing,thugs torching businesses,cars and  buildings!

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/02/new-york-city-looting-despite-curfew

 

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by riclag

On 6/19/2020 at 6:29 AM, Mac98 said:

They can't tell the brick-throwing thugs anything since most of those instigators are undercover cops and right-wing outsiders planted to unleash the cops on those same peaceful protesters. Who do you think benefits from that behavior? I saw it happen up close and personal in late '60s. Same tactics, right out of their playbook.

This is quite a conspiracy you have uncovered. I don't suppose you have any actual EVIDENCE to back up your claim?