Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo found something in common Wednesday when they both reported to New York Police for a now-viral video showing police officers picking up protesters mid-rally in an unmarked pickup truck by destroy the police equipment near the City Hall park.
“The video was very disturbing and terrifying,” said Cuomo. “The initial idea was that it was so outrageous.”
“I am surprised that, especially at this time, the NYPD takes such an unpleasant action. He was totally insensitive to everything that is happening. “
The video posted on social media showed four plainclothes police officers taking 18-year-old Nikki Stone to an unmarked KIA silver minivan as other protesters attempted to intervene. Police said their warrant squad routinely uses “unmarked vehicles to effectively locate wanted suspects.”
Hizzoner took a similar stance to the government, saying the PD should have been more “sensitive” to the political moment and described how the 18-year-old Stone’s bust fell Tuesday night as a “mistake.”
“We are at a particular historical moment when there has to be sensitivity,” he said, “where people are understandably concerned with what they are seeing leaving Washington on the defense of democratic rights.”
De Blasio said the raid, which had nothing to do with federal authorities, happened at the wrong time and place.
“It made sense to do it in a situation that was clearly not in the midst of an ongoing protest,” he said.
Stone was marching with Black Lives Matter protesters in Kips Bay around 6 p.m. when she was picked up by a team of police from the order’s squad.
She was released on Wednesday on the criminal mischief accusation for allegedly damaging four New York City police cameras in City Hall Park, something apparently seen in an exclusive video filmed by The Post in June. She is also accused of destroying The Oculus and an F train in incidents between June 19 and July 6.
De Blasio went so far as to say that he would like to see “more coordination” by the New York police in regards to future arrests.
He also compared the situation to Portland, where federal agents assigned to protect a courthouse and other government properties intervened with protesters on the street and took some of them into custody in unmarked vehicles.
“Anything that suggests a little bit, that worries me and it’s the kind of thing we don’t want to see in this city,” de Blasio said.
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy
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