NYPD Officer Charged With Assault After He Was Recorded Knocking Down A Protester In Brooklyn

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NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer who was caught on video violently shoving a woman to the ground during a recent protest over the death of George Floyd is facing criminal charges, Brooklyn prosecutors announced Tuesday.

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Officer Vincent D’Andraia was charged with assault, criminal mischief, harassment and menacing in the May 29 altercation that sent protester Dounya Zayer to the hospital, causing what she said was a concussion and a seizure after hitting her head on the pavement.

D’Andraia is expected to be arraigned Tuesday, according to District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who said he was “deeply troubled by this unnecessary assault.”

A message seeking comment was left with D’Andraia’s union. It was not immediately known whether he had a lawyer. The police department suspended the 28-year-old officer last week without pay. He had been assigned to Brooklyn’s 73rd Precinct.

Footage of D’Andraia manhandling the woman was viewed millions of times on Twitter and generated outrage among protesters and elected officials. The altercation underscored the same concerns about police misconduct that prompted demonstrations around the country following the Floyd’s May 25 death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries called for D’Andraia’s firing and praised the reassignment of his commanding officer, who witnessed the shoving and did not intervene.

“Violent police officers who brutalize civilians must be held accountable for their behavior,” Jeffries said in a statement. “It’s my hope this is the beginning of transformational change in the largest police department in the nation.”

Zayer, 20, said D’Andraia was a coward and suggested the assault would only deepen mistrust of law enforcement.

“I was protesting for a reason,” Zayer said in a video tweeted from her hospital bed. The officer, she added, “should have had the self restraint to not hurt the people he’s supposed to be protecting.”

The NYPD’s treatment of peaceful protesters has come under fire in recent weeks amid daily demonstrations spurred by Floyd’s death and police brutality against people of color.

The shoving in Brooklyn happened a day before a separate clash between police and protesters in which another NYPD officer was seen pulling a demonstrator’s mask down and spraying pepper spray. That officer was also suspended.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised all allegations of police misconduct would be investigated. But he also has played down accounts of police violence amid the unrest, telling reporters he personally had seen “no use of force around peaceful protests.” He credited officers for using “lots of restraint.”


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390OceanPkwy
390OceanPkwy
3 years ago

Next time there’s a Police Riot in Willy, near 770 or in BP remember how much NYPD loves frum Yidden… they don’t.

Boroch
Boroch
3 years ago

In the summer of 1971, two Vietnam veterans, one a Hispanic civilian, and the other a cop from the 78th precinct became involved in an altercation, over essentially nothing. The end result was that the 78th precinct cop shot the unarmed civilian dead. Two detectives told me that the cop didn’t have to kill the civilian, and basically got away with it. The cop was never charged. Nearly fifty years ago, that was the way that the NYPD conducted business. Hopefully, things are now changing.

ah yid
ah yid
3 years ago

Its 2020 No teacher, Rebbi, or morah would dear lift a finger to a student even report cards have to be sugar coated and diplomatic. I’m not discussing right or wrong this is the fact. In 2020 with cameras rolling everywhere and everyone second guessing the police, the police MUST find new ways how to interact with the people they are protecting. Of course It’s not fair to judge a cop based on a 20 second clip when the incident may have started an hour a go. Its not easy to hold back when some idiot is in your face antagonizing you. However if you signed up to be a police office in the 2000’s you have to learn new ways to deal with the public.