West Village clash between cops and
protesters prompts calls for investigation
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Lawmakers in the West Village and
beyond are calling on Mayor Bill de
Blasio and the NYPD to investigate
clashes between police and protesters on
Sept. 26 caught on camera.
Twelve demonstrators wound up in
handcuffs at the corner of Hudson and
10th Street on Sept. 26 after a standoff
with police. Video footage shows the cops,
including bike-riding members and offi cers
in riot gear, charging at the crowd — wrangling
some of them near outdoor dining
areas where patrons were eating.
That occurred about 90 minutes after
police broke up a protest party in Washington
Square Park that drew scores of
residents.
According to local journalist Jeremiah
Moss, “a shockingly massive police presence”
converged upon the park at about
7:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, including 100
bike-riding offi cers and other cops in riot
gear. Attendees at the park claimed that
some of the cops fl ipped over a table of
art and related supplies, and confi scated a
DJ’s equipment.
Moss said that the cops had blockaded a
small corner of the park when an activist,
while using a megaphone, urged onlookers
to start recording video and photos and
share it on social media. That prompted
the police to leave the park along Fifth
Avenue.
Washington Square Park has been the
site of several large parties among students
from nearby New York University, which
drew the attention of Governor Andrew
Cuomo. The gatherings, many of which
were caught on tape, showed hundreds of
revelers — many of whom were unmasked
— gathering at these events amid the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Moss, police presence
has increased signifi cantly at Washington
Square Park since NYU resumed in-person
classes and residents living near the park
began returning home “from their pandemic
retreats.”
“Last night, however, they (the police)
took it to an aggressive, and ultimately
violent, new level, suppressing what was
a very mild and peaceful form of protest
organized by young Black and Latinx New
Yorkers,” Moss said.
The West Village standoff happened
at about 9 p.m., when lines of bike-riding
cops and protesters stared each other
down just a few steps from the 6th Precinct
stationhouse.
According to NYC Protests Update, a
A line of bike-riding NYPD officers at Washington Square Park on Sept. 26, 2020, as they broke up a protest party.
Twitter account managed by “young, independent
journalists” covering Black Lives
Matter demonstrations across the city, the
protest occurred in the West Village as a
result of the seizure of the DJ’s equipment
at Washington Square Park.
Multiple videos on social media shows
the line of cops on one side of Hudson
Street, and protesters gathered on the
other side. A few protesters were standing
in a bike lane and on a concrete median.
One video then shows a number of
cops charge at protesters after a silver
van passed through the intersection. They
grabbed one man who had stepped out
into Hudson Street off the median, and
then went after other individuals as they
retreated.
Up to seven offi cers then swarmed another
protester and began restraining him.
A cop in riot gear then appears to grab
another individual, prompting someone in
the crowd to shout, “What are you doing?”
Other offi cers arrested that individual in
an outdoor dining area.
Police reported that 12 people were
arrested in the clash, which they said was
occurred while responding to “a large
disorderly group obstructing vehicular
traffi c.”
Two of them, residents of Brooklyn and
Queens, were charged with resisting arrest.
The other arrested individuals, who
live in Queens and Harrison, New York,
were booked for obstructing governmental
administration.
On Sunday afternoon, Sergeant Mary
Frances O’Donnell of the NYPD issued
a statement about the incidents: “In
response to numerous noise complaints
from area residents, the NYPD responded
to Washington Square Park. After multiple
warnings regarding loud music went unaddressed,
offi cers gave the individual
playing music a summons to address the
condition. Following, a group of roughly
150 demonstrators came to the 6th Precinct
and blocked traffi c. After multiple
warnings to clear the sidewalk, offi cers
took 12 individuals into custody and they
were given desk appearance tickets.”
The episode sparked backlash among
elected offi cials across the city, including
Bronx state Senator Alessandra Biaggi.
She tweeted that her policy advisor, Molly
Dillon, happened to walk by the scene
PHOTO BY JEREMIAH MOSS
on the way home from a wedding — but
“narrowly managed to run away whe aggressively
charged by this group of police.”
“This is police misconduct,” Biaggi
declared on Twitter, then turned her attention
to Mayor Bill de Blasio. “@NYCMayor,
there must be consequences for this, and I
will be following up.”
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson,
whose district includes the West Village,
similarly condemned the police action.
“What happened last night in the Village
was unacceptable,” he tweeted. “The
right to protest is sacrosanct. Or at least it
should be. We keep seeing incidents that
show this right being disregarded. This is
unacceptable and must end.”
State Senator Brad Hoylman also tweeted
his frustration with the use of force, and
demanded an investigation.
“My offi ce is in contact with the NYPD
about the use of force on New Yorkers on
10th and Hudson tonight,” Hoylman said
Saturday. “But we’re exhausted of seeing
video after video, and hearing from
constituents in person, of inexplicable
escalations that undermine an already
fragile trust.”
Schneps Media October 1, 2020 3