A New York police officer is said to be seriously injured during what was supposed to be a “peaceful” protest on Wednesday, facing two broken orbital bones inside the eye, a dozen stitches and a possible concussion.
An attacker reportedly hit him in the face with something like brass knuckles, sources close to the injured police lieutenant, who has since been identified by the NYPD as Richard Mack, told Fox News.
The calamity began Wednesday morning ahead of a planned rally against gun violence and in support of police, following the fatal shooting of a one-year-old boy in Brooklyn on Sunday night, in which protesters crossed from the Brooklyn side. floors of the Brooklyn Bridge. However, counter-protesters had already begun crossing from the Manhattan side, prompting a New York police officer parked near the bridge’s midpoint to call for help.
“These were new faces; we know they were not part of the (previous) peaceful protests. We were trying to prevent them from getting on the bridge from the Manhattan side, but they were just jumping and circling,” said an officer. involved in the incident, but who requested anonymity since they are not authorized to speak on the record, he told Fox News. “And then we got a call that a lot of people were already there with homemade armor, painted shoulder pads and the like, and I had a feeling they were looking for a fight.”
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Thus, around 18 police officers on bicycles started heading towards the midpoint, but on the way shortly after 10 a.m., tensions increased when a man allegedly threw a wooden object, some type of cane or cane, into a group of officers, which included Department Head Terence Monahan while making an arrest.
The sticks used in the assault are believed to have been dropped that morning and left in a box on site. Mack is said to have chased the stick-bearer when he was attacked by another protester who started hitting, prompting the officer to respond until blood gushed out of his face in what was supposed to be an attack involving something like knuckles from bronze. .
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At some point, it is also alleged that pepper spray was used on the wounded officer, as others in the vicinity shouted beards at the downed police officer ranging from “f ** k you” to “I hope you die.” And when Mack was being taken to an ambulance, a witness recalled, the protesters shouted that he deserved it as others tried to help the attacker escape.
A Black Lives Matter protester and New York Police officers fight on the Brooklyn Bridge during a demonstration, Wednesday, July 15, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo / Yuki Iwamura)
Since then, the New York Police Department has released the video of the bridge fight on its Twitter account and announced a $ 2,500 reward for any information leading to the individual’s arrest. The assailants are believed to be “anarchists” who, according to police officials, “infiltrated the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement from the beginning.”
The images show the man, wearing a maroon shirt, khaki pants and a red scarf around his neck, holding the stick with his right hand as he climbs a fence on the bridge and runs out of the area.
In addition to Monahan and Mack, at least two other officers were wounded.
At least 36 people from the protest were arrested or fined, police said, with 26 receiving summons, others were issued fines and five were fully charged.
The protester attacks New York police officers, including the department head, when they arrested
The violence was fueled just hours before Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a package of police accountability bills, which included what Monahan described to the press as part of the diaphragm of a bill against strangulation. ” This essentially prohibits sitting, kneeling, or standing on a suspect’s chest or back in a way that compresses the diaphragm when making an arrest.
“As you saw yesterday on the bridge, we as the New York City Police Department cannot care about that when we are making an arrest,” he told local radio station WCBS 880 on Wednesday. “When we were fighting, Fighting that guy, I can’t think about whether my knee is going to go through his back or not. I have to stop that person before another person is seriously injured. “
A source close to Mack also noted that the lieutenant regretted after the incident that the new legislation had also prevented him from defending himself or rigorously defending himself during the confrontation.
“They can strangle him, but you can’t strangle them,” said the New York police source.
However, when asked about the outbreak during a press conference Thursday morning, de Blasio condemned the bloodshed as “absolutely unacceptable.”
“There is no situation where it is acceptable to attack a police officer. Period,” said the mayor, adding that he spoke to Monahan after learning of the attack. “This is the reality: anyone who does it will suffer the consequences.”
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But to many New York police veterans, who are battling rising crime amid the ongoing unrest, what those consequences seem somewhat murky.
“Morale is not very good at the moment,” added the officer. “In fact, it’s horrible. Everyone is depressed and nobody is sure what’s going to happen.”
