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Video: Cop Uses Chokehold On Subway Suspect 3 Days Before Eric Garner's Death
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 23, 2014
Modified Jul 24, 2014
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 23, 2014
Modified Jul 24, 2014
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A week after Eric Garner died after being held in a chokehold by an NYPD officer, video of another man being wrestled to the ground in a similar fashion, then punched repeatedly in the face, has surfaced.
The video, posted on Facebook by East Harlem activist Reverend Kelmy Rodriquez, was apparently shot at the 125th Street and Lexington Avenue subway station the afternoon of July 14th—three days before Garner's death.
According to the NYPD, the man in the chokehold is identified as 23-year-old Ronald Johns, who was allegedly caught trying to enter the subway through a service gate. He refused to show his ID, at which point police attempted to cuff him. In addition to the farebeating charge, Johns is also charged with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. All three infractions are misdemeanors.
The video depicts brutal footage of Johns being held in a chokehold by a burly NYPD cop. As one officer struggles to slap handcuffs on both of Johns's wrists, the other continues to hold Johns by his neck, shouting at him to put his hands behind his back. Unable to comply because the officers are already gripping one of his arms and neck, the cop proceeds to punch Johns in the face, to shrieks of protest from onlookers. When he tries to protect his face with his hands, the cop hits him again.
One onlooker refers to the cop as "Officer McGuire"—could this be the same man depicted here?
Another video shot from a different angle shows the two officers holding the victim on the ground, with one officer tugging the man's leg while the other restrains his torso.
"He was just standing there," one woman said. "That's fucked up."
During a press conference yesterday, Commissioner William Bratton said he was ordering "top to bottom review of all of the training this department provides to its personnel... I would anticipate that coming out of this effort that there will be a retraining of every member in our city Police Department in the weeks, months and potential years ahead"
The commissioner also explained they'd "specifically [focus] on force, how do we train our officers for a takedown, how do we train them to use the various levels of force that they're authorized to use."
The NYPD Internal Affairs division is conducting an investigation into the arrest.
Tagged
chokehold
harlem
nypd
police brutality
Lauren Evans
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