Chief Terrence Monahan was injured during a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge.
What We Know:
- On Wednesday, pro-police demonstrators took to the streets to call for an end to the increase in gun violence across New York City. Tensions started to build as the group began to cross the Brooklyn Bridge and were met by counter-protesters.
- Surveillance footage shows a man on the walkway of the bridge leaning over the fence and using a cane to hit cops on their heads as they arrested a counterdemonstrator against “unity” march on the roadway.
- Video also shows Monahan climbing the fence to exchange blows with the protester on the walkway during the fight between demonstrators and bicycle police.
- Chief Monahan suffered a broken finger. A lieutenant also sustained a laceration to the head and another officer received an orbital fracture to one eye.
- At least 37 people were arrested including the individuals who assaulted the cops. 25-year-old Shaborn Banks and 25-year-old Quran Campbell were charged with assaulting three officers on the bridge.
- NYPD Sergeants’ Union President Ed Mullins said Mayor Bill de Blasio has lost control of the city. “This guy in City Hall will not let us do our job. It’s time that stops, and it’s time they have a voice.” Despite this opinion, Mayor De Blasio recently signed police reform measures, including a ban on chokeholds. The new laws make it a crime to restrict a person’s ability to breathe, including sitting, kneeling, or standing on someone’s chest or back.
De Blasio acknowledged the new laws might make it harder for cops to do their jobs, but said he signed them because people “need to be safe. They want to work with the NYPD, and they want respect in turn”.
