Quantcast

Video of Manhattan protester’s arrest by plain-clothed cops sparks outrage and fear online

twitter video
Screenshot via Twitter
A viral video showing plainclothes cops tossing a protester into an unmarked van at an East Side march on Tuesday night sparked alarm and outrage on social media amid the ongoing protests in Portland, Oregon where unidentified federal officers have cracked down on demonstrators.
 

The viral video, posted by @MichelleLHooq, shows the protester, who they describe as a trans femme protester, being apprehended and dragged into an unmarked mini-van at 2nd Avenue and 25th Street near a protest that was taking place at Abolition Park on July 28:

Other videos of the arrest have surfaced on Twitter as well.

According to a statement released on the NYPD News Twitter account states that the protester was wanted for damaging police cameras in five separate incidents. The statement also claimed that the officers who were making the arrest were assaulted with rocks and bottles during the arrest.

However, many are taking to Twitter to call out the NYPD in regards to the alleged rock-throwing, stating that the video doesn’t appear to back up those claims.

 

At this time, the NYPD has not commented on why an unmarked vehicle was used for the arrest.

New York City public officials are speaking up and condemning the video, calling for answers from the NYPD.

The NYC Police Benevolent Association (PBA) later released another video, which shows an arrest in which they’re backing up the NYPD claim that the officers got attacked: