An NYPD officer was left needing two staples to close a head wound he suffered after being attacked during a Hamilton Heights protest on Saturday night, authorities said.
According to police sources, the bloody assault came at the tail end of a demonstration that lasted for several hours and passed through two boroughs. Led by the Black Kings NYC, the group initially assembled at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn at around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 before heading north into Manhattan.
The march was one in a series of weekly protests against police corruption, according to the organizers, who have also demanded the removal of several NYPD chiefs over misconduct claims.
The band of 25 protesters headed uptown and arrived at the intersection of 145th Street and Bradhurst Avenue in Hamilton Heights at about 9:40 p.m. Saturday, when a cop apparently attempted to disperse the demonstrators. As the officer demanded the two dozen people to leave the area, police say a person approached him from behind and clobbered him with a long object that appeared to be some kind of glowstick.
The cop was whisked to a local hospital where he received two staples to close the wound.
“Yesterday evening the NYPD responded to an unlawful protest. After giving multiple warnings to demonstrators, our officers moved in to disperse the crowd. At that time, one of our officers was struck in the head with an object, causing a deep cut that required two staples. Thankfully, he will be ok,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtery wrote on social media. “The NYPD will always support the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, but we will never tolerate unlawful disruptions in our city.”
Sources within the protest itself, however, accused the NYPD of suddenly and without warning rushing in and attempting to make arrests with little provocation, with some feeling the move was an act of retribution.
Police reportted that three people were taken into custody and questioned for the attack. Two individuals were released with summonses, while a 20-year-old woman was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration for interfering with an arrest.
None, however, were charged with the assault on the cop, and the assailant remains at large.
NYPD brass and the Police Benevolent Association have been sounding the alarm regarding the rise in attacks on cops in recent weeks, including the now infamous brawl outside of a Times Square migrant shelter last month.
“If you attack a police officer, it’s attacking all New Yorkers and it needs to be treated that way,” PBA President Patrick Hendry said of the recent assaults.
