As parks in upscale areas were packed with sunbathing yuppies, NYPD spent the weekend arresting those who failed to social-distance on the streets. In this video, an unmasked plain-clothes officer is seen brandishing a stun gun sideways like a movie gangster, then attacking a bystander watching an ongoing arrest.
Eyewitness News ABC 7 NY reports that the officer was placed on "modified duty" after the video emerged.
As a couple was being arrested, video shows one of the officers break away from that arrest to walk up to a bystander with his taser drawn — swearing and telling him to move back.
Video showed the plainclothes officer, who was not wearing a protective face mask, slapping 33-year-old Donni Wright in the face, punching him in the shoulder and dragging him to a sidewalk after leveling him in a crosswalk.
The man attacked by the officer was reportedly Donni Wright, 33. Wright was charged with assault on a police officer, menacing, resisting arrest and other crimes, reports NBC. NYPD would not confirm that Wright is the man attacked by the officer in the video.
Same city. Same police force.
Passing out masks to white folks not social distancing, while literally having their foots on our necks.
This is beyond ridiculous at this point. pic.twitter.com/pY6kSGVEaZ
— zellie (@zellieimani) May 3, 2020
UPDATE: The original arrest was caught on CCTV was similarly violent and unnecessary. Two people not socially-distancing are approached up by the same officer, who pushes one against the wall before being joined by other plain-clothes cops who arrest both in shambolic fashion. The video ends with the officer approaching and confronting the bystander.
Here's how it started. It's even worse than people know:https://t.co/Rr832E6pbJ
— Dennis Gonzalez (@Dengony) May 4, 2020