‘We have to take a stand’
Protestors demand justice after controversial arrest sparks outrage
BY JESSICA PARKS
Protestors marched
through Canarsie on Saturday
to demand accountability
after a viral video captured
police offi cers tackling
20-year-old Fitzroy Gayle to
the ground during an arrest
for alleged marijuana possession.
“We have to take a stand
when our people are being assaulted
by NYPD,” said Peter
Jones, chaplain for the 67th
Precinct. “We demand justice.”
A video posted to Twitter
last Thursday shows a plainclothes
offi cer holding Gayle
against a wall before a swarm
of police respond to the scene
and fi reclay tackle him to the
ground while he screams for
help.
“The world saw that live on
videotape,” said Rev. Kevin Mc-
Call of the Crisis Action Center
in Brownsville. “The brother
had his hands up.”
Police claim that Gayle had
been smoking marijuana inside
COURIER L 10 IFE, MARCH 13-19, 2020
100% Playground on Glenwood
Road and had resisted arrest
— but his defense attorney
contends that his client had not
committed any crimes, and will
plead not guilty to charges at a
March 24 court appearance.
“We will be appearing
on March 24, answering the
charges and pleading not guilty
and requesting the charges to
be dismissed in the interest of
justice,” said Sanford Rubenstein.
“And we are going to convince
the district attorney’s
offi ce that they should not prosecute.”
During Saturday’s march
from the playground to the
69th Police Precinct, which
came on the heels of a similar
demonstration last Thursday,
rally-goers called on the NYPD
to fi re the offi cers involved
in Gayle’s arrest, and for the
Kings County District Attorney
to launch a full investigation
into the incident.
Reciting chants of “No Justice,
No Peace” and “Hands
Up, Don’t Shoot,” protestors
marched down a half-mile
stretch of Rockaway Parkway
from 100% Playground on Glenwood
Road to the 69th Precinct
on E. 98th Street to demarcate
where Gayle was fi rst arrested
and where he was held in custody
for about 12 hours.
McCall said Gayle was
only released from the 69th
Precinct after the community
leader went to the department
himself and demanded
Gayle’s release. He was then
taken out of custody within
the hour.
Police Commissioner Dermot
Shea addressed Gayle’s
arrest at a press conference
last Thursday, where he said
some aspects of the video were
disturbing and that the department
would conduct a full
investigation.
“The short answer is I am
going to look for an investigation
just to make sure I know
everything that happened
here,” said Shea.
Demonstrators marched through Canarsie after a viral video captured
police throwing a 20-year-old man to the ground during an arrest for
alleged marijuana possession.
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