While trying to disperse a peaceful family gathering in South Bronx this past Saturday, an NYPD officer aimed his taser at a 7-year-old girl after her dad just picked her up to leave.
It started when a New York City police car pulled up to a gathering and officers ordered everyone to leave.
The citizens tried to explain it was a peaceful gathering but the cops insisted they were not allowed to congregate.
That is when the group decided to pull out their phones to record the interaction. Once the phones were out, the officers became hostile and requested back-up.
The caption on the video states that within minutes, it appeared that there were 100 officers.
> “Community members then pulled out their cell phones to record the interaction. That’s when the officer became enraged, call for back up and started yelling at everyone. Within minutes what appeared to be 100 police officers appeared. That was when the chaos ensued.”
One of the officers who has yet to be identified can be seen screaming at the top of his lungs demanding the group to leave. The other officers can be heard as well but in a less maniacal way.
Hank Newsome, who recorded the incident and is President of the Black Lives Matter of Greater New York Chapter, compared the amount of police presence and the tactics they used to military mobilization.
Newsome describes the incident as chaos for the fact that they were not given enough time to “disperse orderly” with parents running around trying to gather up their kids while trying to de-escalate the officers.
The incident was also captured by Samantha Darcangelo from a different angle”
One of the people who attended the gathering, Edgar Alvarez, told Newsweek that as soon as he pick up his daughter and turned around an officer drew his taser on him.
According to Newsweek:
> “If he had shot that Taser, he would have hit me or my daughter, or both of us.”
> Alvarez said his 7-year-old daughter was “hysterical” over the incident.
> “She was screaming, crying,” he said. “Later that night, an officer walked by her and asked if she was okay and she just broke down crying right there.”
NYPD Lieutenant John Grimpel told Newsweek that the department was advised that the gathering was blocking all sides of the streets.
Grimpel was able to confirm that no tasers were used but could not confirm if any were drawn.
It can be seen 35 seconds into the video that the officer that was screaming was holding his taser.
Two arrests were made and six court summons were issued.
Newsome stated in the caption that the police department and local politicians are commercials promoting peaceful interactions with police but believes that days like this are a regular occurrences in black and brown communities.
The caption reads:
> “This is a regular occurrence in the Bronx. Politicians nor the police department they’re taking steps in this type of hostility toward unarmed and otherwise innocent civilians. The city of New York’s mayors office in conjunction with the NYPD have a launched a series of commercials to promote neighborhood for policing that show peaceful interactions. This video from Saturday night shows what neighborhood policing really looks like in Black and Brown communities. These are working tax paying citizens who’s children are being threatened with tasers.”
Newsome wants Americans and other New Yorkers to see the what he believes the differences are when disassemble orders are given in different neighborhoods and wants action taken.
