Mayor relatively mum on NYPD clashes
with protesters at City Hall on MLK Day
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Mayor Bill de Blasio held
his tongue Tuesday in
reacting to an NYPD
crackdown on protesters outside
City Hall in Lower Manhattan
during Martin Luther King Jr.
Day demonstrations on Monday
night, Jan. 18.
About 300 demonstrators gathered
in the late afternoon at the
entrance of Brooklyn’s Barclays
Center, a now common start point
for BLM demonstrations, to call
for Black liberation and honor the
Civil Rights Movement leader.
About 150 people gathered so
far for the Black Liberation March
at Barclays, in honor of MLK Jr.
Demonstrators marched north
to cross the Brooklyn Bridge
and make their way to City Hall
with dozens of NYPD offi cers
trailing behind them. The march
remained peaceful until the growing
number of protesters reached
City Hall about two hours after
the demonstration began in
Brooklyn when NYPD offi cers
Police officers stand next to detained demonstrators near
Washington Square Park on Nov. 4.
in riot shields began blasting
messages to the crowd of nearly
500 to disperse.
Video from NYC Protest Updates
shows offi cers rushing protesters
and violently grabbing and
detaining multiple demonstrators
by pinning them to the ground
seemingly without provocation.
A total of 29 protesters were arrested
last night and 11 uniformed
offi cers were injured, according
to an NYPD spokesperson. Out
of those arrested–12 men and 17
FILE PHOTO BY REUTERS/JEENAH MOON
women–21 received summonses
for disorderly conduct while seven
were issued desk appearance
tickets.
The NYPD claims arrests began
after protesters threw glass
bottles at offi cers who formed a
circle to “protect and remove” a
woman using her iPhone to fi lm
demonstrators in front of the
Municipal Building at 1 Centre
Street after she had ” protesters
move in to harass her,” DCPI
Spokesperson Sergeant Edward
Riley told amNew York Metro.
“Other offi cers used a public
address system to give clear, audible
directions for protesters to
leave the roadway,” Riley added.
Police conduct during protests
has come under scrutiny over the
last year amid the second wave of
the Black Lives Matter Protests
sparked by the death of George
Floyd in May of 2020.
During last year’s protests,
NYPD offi cers repeatedly used
excessive force against peaceful
protesters prompting several investigations,
including an internal
one from the city, into the department’s
behavior and disciplinary
actions over the summer.
New York state’s top law enforcement
agent, Letitia James,
fi led a lawsuit against the NYPD
and its leadership last week for
failing to fi x the department’s
longstanding history of abuse by
not “properly training, supervising,
and disciplining offi cers to
prevent misconduct.”
Tuesday morning, de Blasio
touched on police reform stating
this year the NYPD will redouble
its efforts to gain “trust and understanding
and mutual respect
at the community level” in order
to improve public safety.
“There’s a lot of ways to do that,”
de Blasio said. “Neighborhood policing
tells us that the number one
way is just to communicate, a lot of
person to person communication
locally, and that’s been really clear,
strong element over the year’s that
has helped us a lot.”
In response to the violent turn
of Monday night’s protest, de
Blasio told reporters he had only
“seen a few videos” of the “small
protest” and was therefore unable
to comment on police conduct.
“It was in close proximity to
City Hall, and that was obviously
a concern after what happened at
the Capitol just 12 days ago,” said
de Blasio, referencing the Jan. 6
attack on the U.S. Capitol by an
angry mob of Trump supporters.
“But the bottom line is a host of
changes are happening right now
at the NYPD.”
De Blasio then urged New
Yorkers interested in police discipline
to visit the NYPD’s new
“discipline matrix,” a lengthy
document on the city’s website
outlining new penalty guidelines
for offi cers found guilty of
misconduct.
Battery Park City unites against hate after
confederate flag found at Jewish Museum
BY DEAN MOSES
Battery Park City residents
and elected offi cials gathered
in a show of solidarity
outside of the Museum of Jewish
Heritage last week just days after
the building’s entrance was defi
led with a confederate fl ag.
A large group — including
many children — arrived at 36
Battery Place just before 4 p.m.
on Jan. 14, joining neighbors, educators,
politicians, students, and
sympathetic persons who held a
vigil after a confederate fl ag was
discovered tied to the museum’s
doors overnight on Jan. 8.
The fl ag was found two days
after a mob of Trump supporters,
a number of whom bore symbols
of white supremacy such as the
confederate fl ag, attacked the U.S.
Capitol on Jan. 6.
Attendees held signs condemning
acts of hatred during a
FILE PHOTO A child says the museum is no place for hate.
moment of silence that kicked-off
the ceremony.
The confederate fl ag — a symbol
of racial inequality associated
with the Civil War and the white
supremacist movement — was
found mere feet away from a train
car that once transported Jewish
families to the Nazi death camps
during the Holocaust.
Speakers at the Jan. 14 rally
included persons of all ages from
the elementary school, along with
those representing the museum
itself. Jack Kliger, president &
CEO of the Museum of Jewish
Heritage, looked out at the sea
of humanity who had assembled,
humbled by the display of unity.
“I want to just say how appreciative
we are, how heartened
we are by this show of support
with our wonderful neighbors.
The fact that they chose to put
that symbol of hate in front of our
building, and in front of this symbol
of not only what hate did but
of what hate can do is obviously
very troubling. When I look out
here and see all of these people,
this rainbow of people of all ages,
and sizes and colors, it shows us
what love can do. This will not
stop us. This will not deter us.
We will fi ght hate and will fi ght
ignorance. We will show people
there is a better way,” said Kliger,
highlighting the motto inscribed
above the entranceway, “There is
hope for the future.”
Several elected officials
also attended the vigil, including
Manhattan Borough President
Gale Brewer, Congresswoman
Carolyn B. Maloney, state Senators
Brad Hoylman and Brian
Kavanagh, and Assembly member
Yuh Line Niou, who made a point
to take a stand against bigotry and
hatred.
“The action that was taken
was one that was super painful
for our community. It was after
this act of domestic terrorism on
our capitol. This is a museum
where I held my inauguration,
this is the museum where we
have read, out loud, the words of
Elie Wiesel, this is the museum
where we come for solace and
remembrance. We know that the
confederate fl ag has become a
symbol of hate, has become a
symbol of white supremacy and
it was hung here purposefully
to try and breed fear into our
community,” an emotional Niou
said.
Although the vigil lasted less
than 30 minutes, community
members ensured one another
that their stand against intolerance
will last a lifetime.
4 January 21, 2021 Schneps Media