Man tased by police during Bay Ridge protests
hospitalized for multiple injuries: lawyer
BY ROSE ADAMS
A Black Lives Matter protester
suffered irregular heartbeats
and bone fractures in his
arm after a police offi cer tased
him in Bay Ridge on July 12,
according to his lawyer.
A viral video shows 41-yearold
Robert Bolden approaching
a group of offi cers on Senator
Street between Fourth and
Fifth avenues just before 8 pm
— where a chaotic scene developed
after a nearby pro-police
rally and a Black Lives Matter
counter-protest dispersed.
The East New York native
then shouts at one of the offi
cers while recording with a
cell phone — before one of the
offi cers yells, “Get back!” and
shoves him, while another cop
then tackles and tases Bolden,
who convulses on the sidewalk
before cops cuff him.
First responders took
Bolden to NYU Langone Hospital
in Sunset Park following
his arrest, where doctors said
he suffered from heartbeat irregularities,
presumably from
the electric shock, and had sustained
COURIER L 10 IFE, JULY 24-30, 2020
several fractures in his
humerus, according to one of
his lawyers, Scott Rynecki of
the civil rights injury law fi rm
Rubenstein & Rynecki.
Bolden was hospitalized for
three days until July 15 and
may have to undergo surgery
for the fractures, according to
Sanford Rubenstein, Bolden’s
other lawyer.
The police initially planned
to press charges against Bolden
when they brought him to the
hospital, but District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez dismissed them,
Rynecki said.
Another video provided by
the NYPD shows Bolden throwing
a hard hat at pro-police
demonstrators at the Bay Ridge
rally — but a witness of his arrest
said the incident happened
long before police tased him.
“I saw NBC4 had video of
him throwing a helmet into the
crowd, from my understanding
that was much earlier,” said
Oliya Scootercaster, who fi lmed
the video of his arrest. “It did
not appear that they were after
him, there was lots of things
thrown at each other by both
sides during the event.”
Rynecki added that Bolden’s
actions during the protest have
no bearing on the police’s alleged
misconduct.
“This was an unprovoked
attack by the police,” he said.
“This is a person who never
should have been arrested. The
charges that were brought were
clearly never processed.”
At a press conference on
July 15 outside NYU Langone, a
local civil rights leader blasted
the NYPD for their actions.
“It seems like the police are
saying, ‘We can’t step on your
necks no more, so we’ll break
your bones,'” said Rev. Kevin
McCall, who added that District
Attorney Gonzalez agreed
to open a criminal investigation
into the offi cers involved.
“We are not going to sit by and
allow this offi cer and those offi -
cers from the 68th Precinct and
the 71st Precinct be not responsible
for what transpired.”
Bolden’s lawyers said
Bolden is contemplating fi ling
civil damages after he recuperates,
and called for Gonzalez
to prosecute the offi cers.
“That is what we want to
see, that this police offi cer be
arrested and sent to jail for
what he did.”
The District Attorney’s offi
ce declined to comment on
the existence of an investigation,
and the NYPD did not
return a request for further
comment. However, a spokesperson
for the Department
said that there were no reports
of any injuries to police at any
of the protests held in southern
Brooklyn over the weekend
of Bolden’s arrest.
Robert Bolden, 41, was tased and arrested by police during dueling propolice
and Black Lives Matter rallies in Bay Ridge on July 12.
Photo by Caroline Ourso
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