NYPD Officer Punches Bystander During Social Distancing Arrest

BYCole Blake3.7K Views
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NYPD, Social Distancing, Punch
An NYPD officer got into an altercation with a bystander during a social distancing-related stop.

Video surfaced, Sunday, of an NYPD officer punching a bystander while giving out a ticket for breaking social-distancing rules. The incident in the East Village led to three arrests and an internal investigation.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio reacted to video of the incident on Twitter writing, "Saw the video from the Lower East Side and was really disturbed by it. The officer involved has been placed on modified duty and an investigation has begun. The behavior I saw in that video is simply not acceptable."

“It started out as a social distancing enforcement,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea during a press briefing, Sunday. “I am aware of the video that’s out there.

“I would just reiterate that we had tens of thousands of interactions with people all across the city yesterday, most of them without having to issue any type of enforcement activity, whether it’s a summons or arrest."

The same day, the NYPD also handed out over 40 tickets for violating social distancing guidelines. “I would just reiterate that we had tens of thousands of interactions with people all across the city yesterday, most of them without having to issue any type of enforcement activity, whether it’s a summons or arrest,” Shea said.

[Via]


About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.
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