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NYPD Officer Who Appeared To Use White Power Gesture At BLM Protest Has Finally Been Identified
By
George Joseph
Published Mar 9, 2021
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John Nacion/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
By
George Joseph
Published Mar 9, 2021
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The NYPD officer who was caught on camera flashing an apparent white power hand sign during a Black Lives Matter protest last year has been identified and will likely face misconduct charges.
According to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigated the hand sign incident, the agency has substantiated one allegation of “offensive language” against Officer Enrico Lauretta.
Lauretta is a white, fifth-year officer currently serving in Queens’ 114th Precinct, which covers parts of several neighborhoods with significant non-white, immigrant populations.
In a video from a protest in Union Square on May 31st, Lauretta can be seen wearing a black helmet and facing several activists, some of whom are filming. Then he raises his left hand above his waist and appears to make the “OK” hand sign: a circle with his thumb and index finger and three outstretched fingers. White nationalists have used the gesture to signal the initials “W” and “P” for “white power.”
The gesture has been deployed by white nationalists, such as the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooter and Richard Spencer, one of the promoters of the 2017 Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Afterwards, Lauretta turns to a colleague who appears to smile at him. Social media footage of the incident went viral.
In response to public outcry and media coverage at the time, the NYPD said it was reviewing the incident. But Lauretta’s identity and the status of the review remained secret because of a court challenge, brought by a coalition of police and other unions, which shielded information on police misconduct and disciplinary records from the public.
Last week, after rejecting the unions’ arguments, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals told city agencies that they could share police misconduct findings with the public. In response, the CCRB disclosed Lauretta’s identity to Gothamist/WNYC, which had requested information about the incident months before the court ruling.
The CCRB is planning to prosecute the offensive language charge against Lauretta at an NYPD administrative trial, according to the CCRB’s new officer history database.
“Prior to the repeal of 50-a, the CCRB could not inform New Yorkers when it had recommended discipline for an officer who engaged in egregious behavior,” said CCRB Chair Fredrick Davie in a statement, referring to the law that shielded disciplinary records for decades.
“The fact that we can now share the Board’s recommendation in this case and all other closed cases enhances accountability, increases trust, and lays the foundation for us to build a better relationship between the NYPD and the communities they’re sworn to protect and serve,” Davie added.
Asked about the CCRB finding in a brief phone call, Lauretta said that he did not want to speak “on anything.” He also declined to have anyone, including a union representative, explain his perspective on the incident.
According to the NYPD’s new disciplinary guidelines published in January, discipline for verified incidents of offensive language can result in a loss of vacation days, temporary suspension without pay, or termination.
Susan Corke, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, said the officer’s gesture raises serious concerns.
“Based on the context of the video, that it’s a Black Lives Matter protest and the police officer used the ‘OK’ symbol with a smirk, I would say that he is using a tactic, which is often used by those in the far right to signal support for white supremacist beliefs, and to also signal he is not doing his public service and protecting the Black Lives Matter protests,” she said.
Across the country, far right elements in law enforcement have deployed the hand gesture in recent years. In 2018, four police officers in Jasper, Alabama were suspended after making the hand sign in a photo. In Cincinnati, Ohio, another officer was accused of making the gesture at a Black Lives Matter protest last June.
Corke noted that the “OK” hand gesture can be exploited by people in official positions who want to be subtle about their extremist beliefs.
“It's all about the plausible deniability, and signaling, ‘I’m in the in-group,’ but when challenged it gives them the perfect way to say, ‘Oh, the liberals are triggered over something so silly,’” she said.
Following the January 6th Capitol Hill insurrection, which involved several members of law enforcement, public concern over far-right infiltration of police departments has grown. This week, ABC News reported on an internal FBI assessment from February which warned that white supremacists would “very likely seek affiliation” within military and law enforcement organizations. A recently surfaced FBI memo from 2006 shows that the bureau has had similar concerns for many years.
According to the CCRB’s database on police misconduct findings, Lauretta was also the subject of a force complaint from an incident in 2017. The accuser in that incident was not cooperative, however, and the investigation was closed as a result.
NYPD records show that Lauretta has made 145 arrests in his career, and received an “Excellent Police Duty” award in 2016. How the NYPD assesses Lauretta’s actions at his upcoming departmental trial remains to be seen.
The NYPD did not respond to questions about its review of the incident, but noted that the matter is still under investigation by the CCRB, and that Lauretta is an active-duty officer.
George Joseph reported this story for the Gothamist/WNYC Race & Justice Unit. If you have a tip, or if you work or have worked in a prosecutor's office, a law enforcement agency or the courts, email reporter George Joseph at [email protected]. You can also text him tips via the encrypted phone app Signal, or otherwise, at 929-486-4865.
Tagged
nypd
black lives matter
George Joseph
George covers Brooklyn for THE CITY with a focus on criminal justice and housing. He previously worked for WNYC and Gothamist, and has published stories with NPR, ProPublica, Esquire, and The Intercept among other outlets.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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