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NYPD officer repeatedly punched pro-Palestinian protester in Bay Ridge, video shows
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published May 19, 2024
Modified May 19, 2024
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published May 19, 2024
Modified May 19, 2024
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An NYPD supervisor was captured on video repeatedly punching a demonstrator at a pro-Palestinian protest in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and now the department is “looking into” the incident, a police spokesperson said Sunday.
Police arrested 41 people Saturday afternoon at the protest organized by the advocacy group Within Our Lifetime, which says it is “against the entirety of the zionist settler-colonial project.”
The protest coincided with Nakba Day, which marks the date in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced amid Israel’s declaration of independence. Pro-Palestinian protests have been a frequent occurrence throughout the city since Israel invaded Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack in Israel by Hamas militants.
The videos, which were published on X by an independent reporter, show police clearing demonstrators in the vicinity of Bay Ridge Avenue and 5th Avenue. Then an officer in a white shirt – an indication he is an NYPD supervisor – is seen grabbing a demonstrator and pushing him to the ground. The officer then punches him in the face at least three times. The footage did not give any indication why the demonstrator was singled out. Subsequent footage showed the demonstrator bleeding from the head in handcuffs.
A police spokesperson declined to answer questions about the videos, only saying the department was “looking into” them.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry shared on X, formerly Twitter, that demonstrators were arrested because they unlawfully blocked roadways in the neighborhood. Daughtry included footage shot from a drone in his post, showing a large crowd with Palestinian flags blocking traffic. One demonstrator sat on top of an MTA bus stuck in the crowd.
Within Our Lifetime co-founder Nerdeen Kiswani said that she saw police officers assault multiple demonstrators.
“It just seemed like from the beginning they were itching to grab us and hurt us in any way,” Kiswani, 29, said. “They came ready to fight.”
In March, the NYPD agreed to a legal settlement reforming its response to protests in connection with lawsuits brought by participants in the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations. The reforms included updated training for officers and new guidelines meant to avoid unnecessary uses of force.
Bay Ridge is home to the largest Palestinian community in the city. Council member Justin Brannan, who represents the neighborhood, said in a statement that this year’s Nakba Day demonstration was “much smaller than years past” and that he saw “no evidence of actions by protestors yesterday that warranted such an aggressive response from NYPD.”
“These were not our local cops. Clearly, there was a ‘zero tolerance’ edict sent down from [headquarters] which escalated everything and made it worse,” Brannan said. “I'm still waiting on information and details about the arrests that were made but from my vantage point, the response appeared pre-emptive, retaliatory and cumulatively aggressive.”
Tagged
public safety
brooklyn
Israel-Hamas
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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