Activists and city council members from the progressive caucus gathered on the steps of City Hall on March 1 for a rally calling for the disbandment of the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) shortly before the New York City Council was set to hold an oversight hearing on the controversial unit.
The hearing was originally scheduled for December but had been postponed twice.
Activists and civil rights groups accuse the unit of using overly aggressive police tactics, especially during the protests following the death of George Floyd in the Summer of 2020. A report from the Department of Investigation, published in December 2020, details that the SRG used practices which may have provoked confrontations between police and protesters instead of de-escalating tense situations.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) has received at least 18 complaints against SRG officers, and is currently investigating 750 complaints of police misconduct related to the George Floyd protests.
Council member Chi Ossé described the SRG unit as “anti-democratic” and “anti-constitutional.”
“Our first amendment right within the Constitution allows us to protest and assemble whenever we want,” Ossé said. “And the fact that the SRC is deployed to brutalize and disband folks that are exercising their First Amendment rights is once again anti-constitutional and criminal.”
The SRG unit was formed in 2015 as a counter-terrorism unit. However, Robert Willis, advocacy coordinator with LatinoJustice, pointed out that the group was founded after the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and in the wake of the Eric Garner protests.
“This unit was formed, it was conjured up, should I say, in direct opposition to the sensibilities of us average New Yorkers who want to be a progressive city that seeks liberty and justice for all,” Willis said.
Willis accused the SRG of treating protestors as terrorists, agitators, and instigators.
“I just ask why our emotions and frustrations are met with tactical gear and helmets,” Willis said. “Helmets that shield the faces of officers, who consistently abuse protesters and advocates throughout New York City.”
Isabel Leyva, organizer with the New York Civil Liberties Union, said that the hearing was the first step towards holding the SRG accountable.
“New Yorkers want to feel safe,” Leyva said. “The SRG does not keep us safe.”
Jay Walker, co-founder of the “Queer Liberation March,” referred to the SRG unit as “Stormtroopers” and shared his experience with the unit during the Queer Liberation March in 2020 and 2021.
He accused the SRG of attacking marchers “under the flimsiest pretexts possible” and claims its officers turned non-violent protests into violent ones.
“They act like they’re riot police and they are, because they actually are police that riot,” Walker said. “And we New Yorkers are standing up against this. The SRG needs to be disbanded and has to be eliminated, and the NYPD needs to be reduced in size so that we can exercise our freedom of speech. Our right to protest whenever we that people want.”
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams recalled that, at its inception, the NYPD said the SRG would not be deployed to monitor protests.
“Obviously, that was not true,” Williams said. He agreed that sometimes police presence was necessary at large-scale protests.
“What I don’t understand is the need to use people, who are trained for terrorism and terrorist attack to police largely non-violent protests,” Williams said.
