MSNBC’s Chris Hayes promoted a video on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon that showed police officers, including officers in uniform, participating in an arrest of a wanted suspect and falsely claimed that the police were engaging in a “kidnapping.”
A person who identifies themselves as a journalist tweeted out a video of the arrest and wrote, “NYC is taking after Portland – a trans femme protestor was pulled into an unmarked van at the Abolition Park protest – this was at 2nd Ave and 25th Street.”
The video shows an unmarked van pulling up and making an arrest with the officers wearing vests, although it was not clear whether the vests had any identifiers on them. Within seconds, approximately half a dozen uniformed officers on bicycles surrounded the van and provided protection to the arresting officers and to show that what was going on was a legitimate law enforcement operation.
NYC is taking after Portland – a trans femme protestor was pulled into an unmarked van at the Abolition Park protest – this was at 2nd Ave and 25th Street pic.twitter.com/1PDhSYuK9h
— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) July 28, 2020
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes promoted the video to his 2.1 million followers on Twitter while falsely claiming that what happened was a “kidnapping.”
this is…kidnapping https://t.co/iT7SDb5RWx
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 28, 2020
The New York Police Department quickly responded to the video, writing, “In regard to a video on social media that took place at 2 Ave & 25 St, a woman taken into custody in an unmarked van was wanted for damaging police cameras during 5 separate criminal incidents in & around City Hall Park. The arresting officers were assaulted with rocks & bottles.”
In regard to a video on social media that took place at 2 Ave & 25 St, a woman taken into custody in an unmarked van was wanted for damaging police cameras during 5 separate criminal incidents in & around City Hall Park. The arresting officers were assaulted with rocks & bottles. pic.twitter.com/2jGD3DT3eV
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 29, 2020
“When officers from the Warrant Squad took the woman into custody in a gray NYPD minivan this evening, they were assaulted with rocks and bottles. The Warrant Squad uses unmarked vehicles to effectively locate wanted suspects,” the department continued. “When she was placed into the Warrant Squad’s unmarked gray minivan, it was behind a cordon of NYPD bicycle cops in bright yellow and blue uniform shirts there to help effect the arrest.”
When she was placed into the Warrant Squad's unmarked gray minivan, it was behind a cordon of NYPD bicycle cops in bright yellow and blue uniform shirts there to help effect the arrest.
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 29, 2020
Some journalists, Democrats, and far-left activists have made similar false claims about federal law enforcement officials in Portland who have been tasked with guarding a federal courthouse that has been under siege at night for weeks by violent anarchists.
Last week, top federal law enforcement officials debunked the notion that the officers are unidentifiable.
Federal Protective Service (FPS) Deputy Director of Operations Richard Cline noted that the uniforms that the officers are wearing have only a name linked to their badge number. The reason that they are protecting the officer’s identities is because “about 38 of our officers that are out there have been doxxed and their personal information has been put online,” he explained.
Mark Morgan, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that his agents that are being deployed have a “unique identifier” on them because agents are being doxxed, which he said jeopardizes the lives of the agents’ families because the rioters are “putting out their home information and they’re suggesting that individuals go to their homes.”
“So, yes, I as the acting commissioner have authorized and supported removing their names from their uniform,” Morgan said. “Instead, what we have though is a personal identifier, so we can identify and we have each identifier associated with a specific name so we have all that information internally and we’ll share that with the appropriate entities when it’s necessary.”
Morgan added, “So, I hope that puts to rest the lies and false rumors about they’re not properly marked.”