Whatever this dude in the red shirt was doing, and it’s not entirely clear from the video (the NYPD says the man had a knife), it didn’t merit an immediate arrest, but was worthy of an ass whoopin’. (Which starts at the 1:20 mark.)
Look, I know cops are allowed a lot of latitude in how they handle situations, but fist fighting civilians is something that should solely be the domain of our superheroes, imho.
The incident occurred four days ago in Harlem. The plainclothes cop in the video claims the man had a knife clipped to his belt, which should be noted is not illegal. I carry a knife every day. Anything under four inches is perfectly fine in New York City.
So I err of the side of the suspect here. The friend who filmed it says the same thing. “The cops instigated the whole situation,” Jun Ice told ABC. “We weren’t arguing, we weren’t fighting, we were just walking home. There was no reason for them to stop us.”
The officer in the video is being investigated by Internal Affairs, although NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said, “My preliminary review, I saw nothing inappropriate with the officers’ behavior.”
Uhhhhh…. I see one thing wrong.
[Via Fox News]