A plainclothes NYPD cop stopped a man on the street without telling him why, holding him against a wall for 90 seconds before several other cops came running and pouncing on him, punching, kicking, choking and piling on top of him, all while yelling the obligatory “stop resisting.”
Fitzroy Gayle ended up charged with possession of marijuana along with the misdemeanor contempt-of-cop charges of obstructing government administration and resisting arrest. He told the New York Daily News he didn’t even have weed.
And even if he did, the video further confirms the longstanding NYPD policy of using outdated marijuana laws to arrest minorities. The fact that they do so using minority officers does not make it any more acceptable.
The incident took place Wednesday evening as the 20-year-old man was walking down a street in Brooklyn and was confronted by the plainclothes cop.
“A plainclothes officer comes across the street towards me with a flashlight saying, ‘Hold on for a second for me bro,’” Gayle said.
“He said it like just, go over there and relax. I was like, ‘Who are you?’ You’re plainclothes, so I don’t know if you’re an officer or who you are.’ I asked him what crime I committed. He was pushing me against the gate. He threatened me with a Taser.”
Video of the 8 p.m. arrest shows Gayle, whose hands were raised, going back and forth with the first cop, who kept telling him not to move. First the cop reached for a radio, presumably to call for backup. Seconds later lights and sirens filled the street before additional officers sprinted over to assist in the arrest.
“They were holding me down,” Gayle said. “They were trying to knee me hard. I was trying to not get kicked in the face. They were just kneeing me and punching, punching. They put the cuffs on me after.
“I’m just glad to be alive,” Gayle said. “It could’ve been worse. I’ve never been arrested. I try to stay away from police. I was surprised at the time. I’m really not surprised now. It’s expected. They think we don’t know our rights. They try to take advantage of that. Maybe because of my appearance, my do-rag, sweatsuit, black, I’m a hood dude, whatever. But I’m alive.”
New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told the Daily News that cops were possibly in fear for their lives because they had heard gunshots at a nearby park but anything that comes out of the mouths of the New York City Police Department should be taken with a grain of salt because it manipulates facts all the time.
The truth is, the NYPD has long used the failed drug war as an excuse to crackdown on minorities for victimless crimes which does nothing for public safety but helps fund their retirement pensions. Some retired NYPD cops make more than $300,000 a year in pensions.
In other words, their livelihood depends on destroying the livelihood of others. That’s the definition of modern-day policing. We see it daily with these videos.
Watch the video below.
