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COURIER L 14 IFE, MAY 22-28, 2020
Mom cuffed over
mask in subway
BY BEN VERDE
Cops cuffed a mother
and pinned her to the
ground of a Brooklyn
subway station on May
13 for improperly wearing
a mask, in an incident
caught on video that
furthered criticism of
the city’s handling of social
distancing enforcement.
Video from the scene
shows a group of six police
offi cers arguing
with the woman as she
climbs the stairs to the
mezzanine of the Atlantic
Avenue-Barclays
Center station with her
child while wearing a
face mask pulled around
her neck.
When one of the offi -
cers touches her on the
shoulder, the woman —
who police identifi ed as
22-year-old Kaleemah
Rozier — yells at them
“”Don’t touch me!” and
begins to swing her arms
about.
The cops then surround
her and force her
to the ground, while another
cop leads her toddler
away.
Police claim Rozier
escalated the confl ict after
being asked to properly
wear her face mask.
“Offi cers approached
the woman and politely
informed her that she
cannot enter the Transit
system without properly
wearing a face mask,”
said police spokesperson
Sgt. Mary Frances
O’Donnell. “She responded
to the offi cers
with vulgar language
and repeatedly refused
requests to properly wear
her face covering over
her nose and mouth.”
The offi cer arrested
Rozier and charged her
with resisting arrest,
disorderly conduct, and
harassment.
“This individual was
only arrested after her
behavior toward offi cers
warranted police action,”
said O’Donnell.
The incident sparked
further criticism of the
city’s decision to have
NYPD offi cers enforce
social distancing rules,
which has disproportionately
affected communities
of color.
The arrest was caught on
fi lm. Twitter/@DeanMeminger
Rather than treating
COVID-19-related offenses
as criminal behavior,
the city should have
public health professionals
leading the charge,
according to a rep with
the nonprofi t Legal Aid
Society.
“We need a different
approach that removes
policing like this
from the equation,” said
the society’s attorneyin
charge of the Special
Litigation Unit, Corey
Stoughton.
NYPD commissioner
Dermot Shea pushed
back on the idea that
enforcement has been
dolled out in an unequal
manner.
“I think we can all
agree what we’ve seen on
some of those videos is incredibly
disheartening,
it’s not what we want to
see, and it’s quite frankly
disturbing,” said Shea
at a May 13 press conference.
“We also have to
recognize that police offi
cers are human. They
are you and they make
mistakes, they’re not
infallible. So, that’s the
backdrop. But I will push
back strongly on any notion
that this is business
as usual for the NYPD or
that this is ‘racist police.’
I think this could not be
anything further from
the truth.”
Mayor de Blasio condemned
the offi cers involved
in Rozier’s arrest
in a Twitter post.
“Face coverings are
important to protect everybody
— they’re not
optional,” Hizzoner said.
“But no one wants to see
an interaction turn into
this. We’ve made progress
with de-escalation.
This isn’t it.”
She has a name.
Her health plan actually knows it.
H2168_MKT20-17_M Accepted
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