P E R S P E C T I V E : S n i d e L i n e s
Ne’er A Drop To Drink
Video stills released by the NYPD of suspects in a rash of water dousings of police offi cers.
BY SUSIE DAY
Dear Guys Who Got Arrested
For Throwing
Water On NYPD Cops:
You hosed Harlem.
You bedewed Brownsville. You
wetted Woodhaven. News media
report that you’ve sprayed or
doused water — yes, vile, menacingly
wet water — on police offi -
cers in incidents all over New York
City. No one knows where you will
strike next.
You: young, smirking, and —
need we add — black. Shown on social
media brazenly enjoying yourselves
as you dampen the physical
forms of noble NYPD cops — cops
who were, at that time anyhow, not
killing anyone. What if that water
you threw had rusted their guns?
I’m sorry if I sound intolerant, but
as a white urban liberal, I feel you
have shown really bad behavior.
You’ve had your fun. And now,
fi nally, some of you have started to
get arrested.
Even though one of you guys actually
turned yourself in , I doubt if
any of you realize the harm you’ve
done to our urban liberal establishment.
You may be miffed about
what happened to Eric Garner,
but this is no way to show your
displeasure. I mean, when I think
of all the time I spent voting for
Mayor Bill de Blasio — I just want
to scream.
Now, thanks to you, news outlets
are running incendiary headlines
like: “ Dousing cops with water is
assault and should be treated that
way” ; “‘You’re the cause’: NYPD
unions blame ‘anti-cop’ politicians
for water dousing incidents.” Moreover,
they say, “attacked offi cers
refused to confront their tormentors.”
The reason they didn’t confront
you is that they were using restraint,
as ordered by our liberal
establishment, headed up by our
mayor. So when offi cers got soaked
in the line of duty, dealing with
“disorderly” people who, during a
major heat wave, turned on a fi re
hydrant; or when offi cers handcuffed
some guy with an open arrest
warrant, they (surprise!) didn’t
rough anybody up. Cops just took
their soaking, perilous though it
was, and then went to fi nd a nice,
union-provided blow dryer.
But once you guys made the
news, the president of the United
States, the US vice President, and
the head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent
Association were only a
few of the Republican establishment
who piled on to express
outrage. Former Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani called current Mayor de
Blasio a “Democrat-Progressive
(Retrogressive)-Socialist Mayor.”
This forced de Blasio to deny his
communist roots by tweeting the
exact same thing as President
NYPD
Trump — that what you did was
“completely unacceptable.”
You also forced Mayor de Blasio
to go on “Sean Hannity” and perform
various humiliatingly reassuring
riffs on, “We are arresting
each and every one of the folks
that did any assaults.”
I certainly hope your bad behavior
will not cost de Blasio the presidency.
You know, I actually think
you’re dangerous.
It’s okay for me to call you dangerous
because New York’s Public
Advocate Jumaane Williams has
also called you that .
So I hope you see the mess you
made. Jumaane is a fi ne Democrat
and politician; he was only trying
to help. And 27 respected black
professionals, including Brooklyn
Borough Preesident Eric Adams,
rushed to sign a letter, condemning
— yes, condemning! — your
moistening of New York’s Finest.
As a white urban liberal, I feel
I can reach across racial divides
here to say that these efforts at
damage control are basically a
form of survival. If people see cops
using “restraint,” the NYPD will
fear losing its standing in the hood
as an occupying force. So progressive
politicos, to protect their
standing, create the new crime of
Dousing While Black.
Unfortunately, damage is not
controlled. All this has inspired
two white Republican state assemblymembers,
Mike LiPetri
and Michael Reilly , to introduce a
headline-grabbing bill that would
make throwing water on cops a
felony, carrying a possible prison
sentence of up to four years. Yes,
thanks to you, there is now bipartisan
support for a new waterto
prison pipeline. Which, to New
York City, makes sense. Because,
even though New York City police
may have beaten and shot and
strangled unarmed black and
brown people since the NYPD began
in 1845, YOU threw WATER
on them.
I’m sure you have your social
grievances. But why didn’t you
go to some reputable protest organization
with your complaints?
Some fi ght-the-power group that
announces their demonstrations
on Facebook? You might have gotten
some catchy sound bites, poster
board signs with nifty fonts,
palm cards — even a protest permit
from the NYPD.
This is such a shame. Because,
maybe, if we white, middle-class
urban liberals stopped feeling the
need to condemn you, we might
stop shutting you out of the world.
Because you guys are a deep
part of this world. It’s not like you
haven’t tried. But even after decades
of civil rights and militancy
and cries for a Black Revolution
and works of literary genius by
Richard Wright and Jacqueline
Woodson and Ta-Nehisi Coates
and Toni Morrison — we still don’t
see you. I, for instance, know who
Bigger Thomas is. But who are you
guys who throw water on cops?
Nothing much beyond some upsetting
headlines.
For watering armed police, guys
like you might go to prison for
years. Whereas the most drastic
punishment for Police Offi cer Daniel
Pantaleo would be if he were
simply to lose his job. Speaking of
jobs, maybe your big mistake was
committing water offenses that
were not work-related. Maybe Pantaleo’s
saving grace was that he
performed that chokehold during
work hours, as a cop.
Or maybe if Pantaleo had
dumped a bucket of water over Eric
Garner, he’d be in prison today.
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