A NYPD officer is now under investigation after video surfaced showing him punching and then arresting a bystander during an arrest of two other people for what started as a reported violation of Mayor de Blasio’s social distancing order:
IS THIS #NYPD BRUTALITY OR NOT? We report, you decide. This happened on Ave D and 9th St, in the #LowerEastSide of #Manhattan on Saturday – @NYCMayor @NYPDnews pic.twitter.com/0pTDTat17S
— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) May 3, 2020
The NY Daily News identified the officer as Francisco Garcia:
An NYPD cop making an arrest in the East Village for a social distancing violation threatened a bystander with a Taser and then punched him to the ground, startling video shows.https://t.co/4r1xH5MlLI
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 3, 2020
According to the NYDN report, “Garcia has since been placed on modified desk duty and stripped of his gun and badge, according to police sources”:
UPDATE: This Officer has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty pending an internal #NYPD investigation.
— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) May 4, 2020
More from the NYDN:
The mayhem began when cops approached a group not following social distancing mandates aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus. Some of the group dispersed but others refused to, cops said, and responding officers found a large amount of marijuana in open view, according to police.
And Mayor Bill de Blasio “was really disturbed” by it:
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Saw the video from the Lower East Side and was really disturbed by it. The officer involved has been placed on modified duty and an investigation has begun. The behavior I saw in that video is simply not acceptable.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 3, 2020
Oh really? Who could have predicted that ordering cops to enforce social distancing could go wrong?
The vast majority of New Yorkers are sticking to social distancing. But some are not getting the point, as we’ve seen this weekend in Hudson River Park. I have instructed the NYPD to increase enforcement in that park. Anyone who ignores instructions by an officer gets a summons.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 3, 2020
As you can see, enforcement of the policy is uneven, at best:
'Orwellian' NYPD swarms parks to enforce social distancing https://t.co/Ae54yGzeEJ pic.twitter.com/PfsWxJdT6O
— New York Post (@nypost) May 2, 2020
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