The Sergeants Benevolent Association in New York (SBA), responding to a New York City Council bill overwhelmingly passed in mid-June that would prosecute cops who use a chokehold whether intentionally or unintentionally, has released a video of a man getting a member of the NYPD in a headlock.
On July 1, two NYPD officers in the Bronx intended to disperse a crowd that had gathered. “The two cops — both of them Neighborhood Coordination Officers, tasked with tackling quality of life issues — were part of an NYPD initiative to discourage outdoor crowds, in hopes of minimizing the multiple people getting injured during individual shootings,” the New York Post reported.
The crowd reportedly would not disperse, prompting the cops to write a summons for one car that was double-parked. The car owner reportedly assumed that meant he could leave the car in place, allegedly telling the officers, “Well, now that you wrote the summons, I can park here for hours and hours.” But when the officers told him that his supposition was not true, the car owner got “combative,” according to sources for the Post.
Another man then got involved, getting an officer in a headlock as one bystander videotaping the incident allegedly called, “F*** him up! F*** him up!” and “They smoked you, p***y! You just got smoked, p***y!” The officer later needed staples for a gash on the head he incurred from the incident, a source told the Post.
The man who put the officer in a headlock is a known gang member who has been arrested 11 times on charges including gang assault and criminal possession of a loaded firearm and robbery, according to police. He turned himself in to police a week after the incident, according to law enforcement.
The video of the incident was used by the attorney of the man using the headlock to exonerate his client because it depicted the cop lunging at the suspect before their confrontation, according to the Post’s source, but the Post added, “But the video does not show what caused the cop to lunge — which was the suspect allegedly kicking down the street a body camera that had fallen off the uniform of one of the cops.”
The suspect was reportedly released without charges pending further investigation by the Bronx DA’s office, prompting an NYPD spokesperson to assert, “The NYPD was disappointed that the individual was not charged initially. The violence against the police officer speaks for itself. We are now in discussions with the District Attorney regarding the case.”
The SBA tweeted the video with the caption, “COREY JOHNSON your STUPID law is about to be signed by NYC STUPID Mayor it’s time you both take your community input & grab these perps yourself.”
Video below: Caution: Strong language:
COREY JOHNSON your STUPID law is about to be signed by NYC STUPID Mayor it’s time you both take your community input & grab these perps yourself. @IngrahamAngle @RealCandaceO @CoreyinNYC @NYCMayor @TuckerCarlson @JudgeJeanine @w_terrence @charliekirk11 @JCats2013 @kristyswanson pic.twitter.com/lHBqWI89st
— SBA (@SBANYPD) July 11, 2020
One furious law enforcement source told the Post, “Putting a cop in a headlock could mean a death sentence if they lose control of their gun. A cop in a headlock can’t maintain weapons control.”
After the bill passed the council in mid-June, New York City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) stated, “It’s insane. A police officer will be guilty even if there’s no intent. The bill was written by people who clearly have never been in a fight in their lives, never mind a fight for their life … The message to the NYPD is that it’s now better to take a hit for failure to take police action than take police action.”