After hours of speculation on a viral video showing the abduction of a woman during a demonstration in the New York City borough of Manhattan, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) confirmed late Tuesday evening that its officers were responsible for carrying off the woman in an unmarked Kia minivan.
“In regard to a video on social media that took place at 2 Ave & 25 St, a woman taken into custody in an unmarked van was wanted for damaging police cameras during 5 separate criminal incidents in & around City Hall Park,” the NYPD said in a July 28 Twitter post.
The video in question was uploaded on Tuesday evening by user @MichelleLhooq and, as of this article’s publication, has accrued more than 11.7 million views.
According to CBS New York, the abduction occurred amid a peaceful protest where demonstrators were providing food to homeless individuals.
“The arresting officers were assaulted with rocks & bottles,” the NYPD claimed in its Twitter post. The department also provided further justification for its actions in a series of follow-up posts.
The woman taken into custody has been confirmed as Nikki Stone, an 18-year-old transgender woman who is also homeless, reported CBS New York.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that he believes “it was the wrong time and the wrong place to effectuate that arrest.”
Netizens also slammed the NYPD for what many viewed as an escalation of tensions between the public and the officials who are supposed to protect them.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has also demanded the NYPD take accountability for how such an act infringes on New York City citizens’ “civil liberties.”
“This is not a drill. There is no excuse for snatching women off the street and throwing them into unmarked vans,” she said in a tweet hours after the arrest. “To not protect our rights is to give them away. It is our responsibility to resist authoritarianism.”
Jezebel reported Wednesday that Stone has since been released from NYPD custody.
According to the database, nearly 4,000 active-duty cops in the 36,000-member force have had at least one civilian complaint leveled against them that has also been substantiated by New York’s Civilian Complaint Review Board. Furthermore, at least 303 active NYPD cops have five or more substantiated civilian complaints tied to their badges.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
0.00 (0%) 0 votes
