TENSIONS BOIL  
 Pro-police marchers clash with  
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 COURIER L 2     IFE, JULY 17-23, 2020 
 BY ROSE ADAMS 
 Dozens  of  pro-police  and  
 Black  Lives  Matter  protesters  
 clashed  during  a  pair  
 of  rallies  and  counter-protests  
 in Bay Ridge and Dyker  
 Heights  over  the  weekend,  
 with  some  supporters  of  the  
 NYPD  instigating  violence  
 and  hurling  racist  insults  
 towards  counter-protesters  
 and even media members. 
 The weekend of unrest began  
 Saturday  with  a  “Rally  
 to  Back  the  Blue”  in  Dyker  
 Heights,  where  more  than  
 300 mostly white demonstrators  
 marched up 13th Avenue  
 from  Bay  Ridge  Parkway  to  
 86th  Street.  They  chanted  
 pro-police slogans and waved  
 “Thin  Blue  Line” American  
 fl ags  in  support  of  law  enforcement. 
 At the start of the march,  
 a  group  of  about  a  dozen  
 counter-protesters  met  at  
 the  corner  of  13th  Avenue  
 and  Bay  Ridge  Parkway  in  
 support  of  the  Black  Lives  
 Matter  movement.  While  
 many  marchers  ignored  
 counter-protesters, one eyewitness  
 said,  a  large  group  
 of pro-police attendees hung  
 back  and  cursed  at  them,  
 called  them  names,  and  
 mocked  them  for  wearing  
 face  masks.  That  account  
 has  been  verified  by  more  
 than one viral video. 
 One enraged pro-cop protester  
 didn’t hesitate to spew  
 racist  and  sexually  explicit  
 language  at  one  Black Lives  
 Matter supporter. 
 “I’ll spit on you, you piece  
 of  sh—,”  the  pro-cop  protester  
 said  in  a  clip  posted  
 on Twitter, who allegedly did  
 spit  on  counter-protesters,  
 according to a witness. “You  
 suck Black d—.”  
 The  same  pro-police  protester  
 kneed  another  Black  
 Lives  Matter  in  the  groin  
 completely  unprovoked,  the  
 victim said. 
 “I  basically  couldn’t  see  
 straight. Our medic who was  
 on scene said I turned incredibly  
 pale  and  said  I  needed  
 to  go  to  the  hospital,”  said  
 Noah  Weston,  a  Bay  Ridge  
 resident  who  helped  organize  
 the counter-protest. “As  
 ludicrous as it seems, I ended  
 up having to go to the hospital  
 where they  told me I had  
 sustained a testicular contusion.” 
 Another Black Lives Matter  
 protester  said  several  
 pro-police  attendees  repeatedly  
 told  her  and  other  female  
 counter-protesters  to  
 “get raped.”  
 “There  was  a  lot  of  men  
 who  just  kept  screaming  
 at  us,  ‘Go  get  raped!  Go  get  
 raped and see who you’re going  
 to  call  then!'”  said  Vanessa  
 Cavanagh. “People were  
 following  us  saying,  ‘We’re  
 going  to  fi nd  out  where  you  
 live,  we’re  going  to  f—k  you  
 up.” 
 Eventually,  many  of  the  
 “Back  the  Blue”  demonstrators  
 abandoned  the  counterprotesters, 
   but  a  handful  
 kept close by to them. 
 At the back of the march,  
 a pro-cop protester smashed  
 a  journalist’s camera on  the  
 ground and hit her with it, a  
 video shows.  
 “One of the blue lives matter  
 protesters  shoved  me  
 hard into a tree and another  
 grabbed  my  camera,  hit  me  
 with  it  and  shattered  it  on  
 the  ground,”  the  journalist  
 tweeted.  “How  is  that  a way  
 to prove their point?” 
 Many  counter-protesters  
 had already scattered before  
 the march  reached  the  park  
 Dozens of Brooklynites gathered for dueling protests on July 11.   
 at  the end of  the rally route,  
 Cavanagh said. 
 There,  local  politicians  
 addressed the crowd — many  
 of whom  took  issue with  recent  
 cuts  to  the  NYPD  budget  
 amid a spike  in  citywide  
 crime. 
 “We are seeing burglaries,  
 robberies, murder, all categories  
 that have sky rocketed,”  
 said Assemblywoman Nicole  
 Malliotakis, a congressional  
 candidate  for  the  11th  District  
 who will face off against  
 Democratic  incumbent  Max  
 Rose in November. “The policies  
 being put in place by my  
 colleagues  on  the  other  side  
 of  the  aisle  are  the  cause  of  
 this. The anti-police rhetoric  
 is the cause of this.” 
 Vito  Bruno,  a  Republican  
 running  for  State  Senator  
 Andrew Gounardes’ seat,  
 also  attended  the  pro-police  
 rally  —  as  did  Gounardes’  
 predecessor Marty Golden. 
 One  of  the  rally’s  organizers  
 called the violent and  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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