NYPD suspends two cops under investigation for excessive force at anti-police protests
Dounya Zayer posted a video on Twitter showing this NYPD officer allegedly shoving her to the ground. (@zayer_dounya/twitter)
The NYPD suspended two cops from their jobs amid Internal Affairs Bureau investigations of charges they used excessive force at anti-police protests in Brooklyn, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Friday.
One officer was suspended over an incident May 29 in which Dounya Zayer was pushed to the ground at a rally outside Barclays Center, and the other was suspended over a May 30 incident in Flatbush in which an officer pulled down Andrew Smith’s face mask before pepper spraying him.
Both incidents were caught on video.
Dounya Zayer is removed in an ambulance near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, May 29 after allegedly being shoved to the ground by a cop. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)
“The actions by these officers stand apart from the restrained work of the thousands of other officers who have worked tirelessly to protect those who are peacefully protesting and keep all New Yorkers safe,” Shea said in a statement.
In the Barclays Center incident, an officer swatted Zayer’s phone out of her hand when she asked why she had to get out of the street. He then pushed her to the pavement.
This is the officer. He threw my phone before throwing me. As you can see I was already backing up. All I asked was why.
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The cop, who sources say is assigned to the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville, shoved Zayer while his commanding officer stood nearby.
The officer, whose name was not released, was suspended without pay and his supervisor will be transferred, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a statement.
Zayer was taken to a local hospital where she claimed on social media to have suffered a seizure and a concussion as a result of the shove.
“I wasn’t aggressive toward the police officer. Even if I was, he should have had the self restraint to not hurt the people’s he’s supposed to be protecting," she said.
A video captured Andrew Smith, pictured, peacefully protesting on the corner of Bedford and Tilden Aves. in Flatbush when an officer pulled his face mask down and sprayed him with pepper spray. (Courtesy Andrew Smith)
In a second incident less than 24 hours later, video captured Andrew Smith peacefully protesting on the corner of Bedford and Tilden Aves. in Flatbush when an officer pulled his face mask down and sprayed him with pepper spray.
Smith, whose hands were in the air during the encounter, attempted to shield his face when the officer doused him with spray.
I am heartbroken and disgusted to see one of my family members a young black man w/his hands up peacefully protesting and an NYPD officer pulls down his mask and pepper sprays him. @NYCSpeakerCoJo @BPEricAdams @FarahNLouis @JumaaneWilliams @NewYorkStateAG @NYPDShea cc: @EOsyd
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“He actually sweeps forward, then comes back to me and then initiates contact,” Smith told the Daily News in an interview after the attack.
Smith was back out on the streets protesting the next day and the officer was suspended without pay.
In his statement, Shea said the NYPD is trying to be transparent about the disciplinary steps taken against police caught using excessive force in protests.
The incidents "are disturbing and run counter to the principles of NYPD training, as well as our mission of public safety,” Shea said.
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