NYPD Officer Fires Taser at Anti-Racism Protester (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A protester was tased and violently arrested by police in Brooklyn in New York City on Sunday, after confrontations took place between law enforcement and a small group of anti-racism demonstrators.
Video posted to social media shows a black man who was wearing a backpack confronting a police officer while holding a cell phone in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn on Sunday, the Daily Mail reported.
The officer then shoves the man backward. Almost immediately another officer moves into the frame and roughs up the black man, pushing him toward the sidewalk.
The man is heard asking if witnesses saw what took place. He appeared to be livestreaming or videotaping the events with his cell phone.
"Did you all see it?" the man is heard asking.
Moments later, the officer who roughed him up pulls out his Taser stun gun and shoots the man at close range, sending him to the sidewalk.
The impact of the Taser sends an electric shock through the man, who struggles to remove the wires that were attached to his body.
As the man rises to his feet, several police officers converge and bend his torso against a parked vehicle while they press his arms against his back.
"Get off of me! Get off of me!" the black man is heard repeating as he is being taken into custody.
The man is heard yelling at the officer: "You Tased me! I didn't do nothing!"
As the officers take the man under arrest, he told them: "You're breaking my arm!"
A crowd of onlookers accused the police of using excessive force. One of them is heard on the video demanding the badge number of one of the arresting officers.
The officers who are taking the man into custody appear to be urging him to stop resisting arrest.
Video shows officers take the handcuffed man into a police vehicle. The scene is tense as other protesters expressed anger at the officers over the incident.
The NYPD said that the department was aware of the video and was looking into the matter.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in the custody of Minneapolis police. During his arrest, he was filmed as one of the officers, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for more than 8 minutes.
Floyd's death ignited nationwide outrage and sparked mass demonstrations and rioting in dozens of American cities.
The New York Police Department, which has been harshly criticized after several officers were seen using excessive force against protesters in the days and weeks following Floyd’s death, had its budget slashed by $1billion.