Dozens of New York City police officers on Saturday evening charged into a group of people standing near an intersection in the West Village, arresting several of them, in a chaotic scene that stunned onlookers, including several people who were dining outdoors nearby.
It was not immediately clear what the group was doing at the intersection of West 10th Street and Hudson Street. News reports indicated that several members of the group might have attended a protest at Washington Square Park earlier in the evening.
Videos of the police action circulated widely on Sunday, prompting sharp criticism that the officers had used unnecessary force.
The videos show a large group of police officers, including several on bikes, lining up across the street from a small group of people who appear to be standing on a median between the street and the sidewalk. Several people are dining outdoors at nearby restaurants.
At least one member of the group appears to be filming the officers and talking in their direction. An amplified voice can be heard saying that people cannot lawfully walk in the street or obstruct the sidewalk, before several officers suddenly rush across the street and begin arresting people in the group as other people scramble to get away from the area.
A spokeswoman for the Police Department said that officers were responding to a “large disorderly group obstructing vehicular traffic.” She said that 12 people were taken into custody and eight were given tickets for disorderly conduct.
Four others were arrested and face charges including resisting arrest and being pedestrians on the roadway. Three of the people face charges of “obstructing governmental administration,” the spokeswoman said, after they tried to prevent officers from conducting arrests.
Corey Johnson, the New York City Council speaker, said on Sunday that the police officers’ actions were “unacceptable.”
“The right to protest is sacrosanct,” he wrote on Twitter. “Or at least it should be. We keep seeing incidents that show this right being disregarded.”
Molly Dillon, who was passing the intersection after attending a wedding near the Hudson River Park, said the police did not appear to be provoked before they rushed into the group. Ms. Dillon, a policy adviser to State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, said the group did not appear to be part of a protest and she did not see anyone standing in the street.
She said people were tripping and falling as they scrambled to get away from the area.
“In addition to the disproportionate response, it was totally unprovoked,” she said.
Ms. Biaggi, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester, said early Sunday morning that there “must be consequences for this” and that she would be following up with Mayor Bill de Blasio. Mr. de Blasio’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose district includes the area where the arrests took place, said his office had contacted the Police Department about the officers’ actions.
“We’re exhausted of seeing video after video, and hearing from constituents in person, of inexplicable escalations that undermine an already fragile trust,” he said on Saturday night.
"crowd" - Google News
September 27, 2020 at 11:57PM
https://ift.tt/334J82X
Abrupt Police Crackdown on Crowd in the West Village Prompts Criticism - The New York Times
"crowd" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YpUyMI
https://ift.tt/2KQD83I
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Abrupt Police Crackdown on Crowd in the West Village Prompts Criticism - The New York Times"
Post a Comment