‘We are not going anywhere’
Black Lives Matter demonstrators protest at PBA President Pat Lynch’s Bayside home
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Bayside’s Black Lives Matter
group, along with other
groups from Queens and
around the city, marched toward
the home of Pat Lynch,
the president of the Police
Benevolent Association,
on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
More than 50 people
walked on the sidewalks from
the Auburndale LIRR station
to Lynch’s home. The demonstrators
were almost immediately
met by about four police
cars and approximately a dozen
officers on foot. People on
bicycles acted as barricades
between the police and demonstrators
during their route.
Police barricaded one entire
block near Lynch’s home,
which is located at 203rd
Street and 50th Avenue.
When marchers arrived
to Lynch’s street, they were
met with a barricaded block
and more than two dozen officers,
as well as PBA members
behind the barricades and on
the sidelines.
Demonstrators then took
turns speaking about the
PBA’s recent endorsement
of President Donald Trump
as well as what they said are
“racist” statements Lynch
has made in the past.
Jessica, an organizer with
the Bayside BLM, who asked
that her last name not be revealed
for safety reasons, said
several activists planned this
action for some time.
“After the PBA’s endorsement
of Trump, something
that had not been done before,
we felt the urgency to move
forward with this action,” she
said. “Patrick Lynch has been
on the radar for years with
his racist, bigoted statements,
even being publicly criticized
by previous police commissioners
for his belief that police
officers are above the law.
For the PBA to endorse a president
whose exact words were,
‘don’t be too nice’ when making
arrests and whose entire
platform is driven by racist
and xenophobic propaganda
is an absolute disgrace.”
At the demonstration, they
talked about Lynch’s comments
regarding a recent incident
in Hell’s Kitchen, in
which more than 30 police officers,
including some in riot
gear, kept Derrick Ingram
— an activist with Warriors
in the Garden, a large nonviolent
group of advocates from
across New York City — in
his apartment for almost six
hours. The officers left the
scene after a few dozen protesters
met them outside of
his apartment asking to see a
warrant.
The police did not have a
warrant, but said Ingram was
under investigation for allegedly
yelling into an officer’s
ear with a bullhorn, causing
the officer to seek medical
attention. Police have not
provided video or other evidence
of whether the incident
occurred.
In response to the incident,
Lynch said, “Is there
any doubt who is in charge
in this city now? The criminal
mob is dictating their
terms to the NYPD brass and
district attorneys, who are
tripping over themselves to
comply. Police officers want
to know: What are we still
doing out here? Why are our
leaders sending us out to enforce
TIMESLEDGER | 2 QNS.COM | AUG. 28-SEPT. 3, 2020
laws they don’t believe
in? And what are we supposed
to tell the New Yorkers who
are watching us retreat while
violence overwhelms their
streets?”
Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized
the NYPD for the standoff,
saying it “was not the
right way to do things.”
Jessica said the police actions
that day — which included
drones, helicopters,
canine units and snipers —
were “the biggest threat to
our community.”
“Thanks to ProPublica
we’ve uncovered that at every
protest we’ve organized and
attended, multiple officers
facing us at the front lines
have charges and settlements
listed for misconduct and excessive
force ultimately paid
for by us, the taxpayers,” she
added.
Jessica also presented police
officers standing near the
barricades with coins, symbolizing
“NYPD Challenge
Coins,” which are membersonly
memorabilia with roots
in the U.S. military.
Protesters chanted “This
stops today,” as well as some
expletives calling for police
accountability and for the
NYPD’s $6 billion dollar budget
to be defunded.
Lynch did not come out at
any point of the demonstration.
After about an hour, protesters
left Lynch’s block to
march toward Northern Boulevard
and the 111th Precinct.
Police cars and officers on
foot followed closely behind
as the protesters marched.
The demonstrators received
some cheers and honks of support,
as well as shouts of disapproval.
Like other instances of
protests, the precinct was
barricaded while demonstrators
shouted more chants,
including, “How do you spell
fascist? NYPD!”
One Auburndale resident
told QNS they’ve noticed barricades,
not in use, near the
precinct since the weekend.
Steve Gansham, a Bayside
resident who said he’s neighbors
with Lynch, joined the
demonstration. Last year,
Gansham was one of two men
who live within a few blocks
of Lynch’s home to have gotten
arrested and charged
with second-degree menacing
and harassment, according to
the Queens Chronicle. After
an investigation, the case was
adjudicated.
Gansham said Lynch
“tried to put him in jail.” At
the precinct, he shouted, “We
want Lynch out of Bayside.”
The march then turned toward
Bell Boulevard, where
some demonstrators burned
a small U.S. flag and left it on
the pavement, where it extinguished
with the wind.
The march ended at about
9 p.m., with protesters taking
down the larger flag at
the LIRR Bayside station.
Many of them then got on
the next train toward Penn
Station, with some staying
behind while four police cars
stopped next to them and later
patrolled the vicinity of the
LIRR station.
Lynch told QNS the NYPD
will “protect your right to protest
wherever it can be done
safely and legally, including
in front of my house.”
“But these protestors
should realize they are wasting
their time. Their campaign
of harassment and
intimidation might have the
politicians running scared,
but it will have zero impact
on the PBA,” Lynch added. “It
also isn’t helping New Yorkers
who feel under siege after
months of brutal violence on
our streets. Our neighborhoods
want cops focused on
stopping the bloodshed, not
wrangling a bunch of protestors
who biked in from
Manhattan.”
The NYPD did not respond
to questions regarding the police
presence at the protest.
Jessica said the people
“refuse to foot the bill for the
NYPD’s senseless and aggressive
antics towards its citizens.”
“We demand change, and
in light of the recent statement
released by Patrick
Lynch, the ‘campaign of harassment
and intimidation’
which has been utilized by
the NYPD first and foremost,
will not have any impact on
our movement,” she said. “We
are not going anywhere. History
has its eyes on you, Mr.
Lynch.”
Photo by Angélica Acevedo
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