There was a pro-police march scheduled this morning to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. The march was led by a group of faith leaders who are concerned about the uptick in violence in the city. During a counter-protest four officers were injured:
At least four officers were hurt, including Chief of Department Terence Monahan, and 37 people were arrested, police said. Information on charges was not immediately available…
Some people in the pro-police group marched with a banner that said, “We Support the NYPD.” The leader of that group said they were calling for an end to a recent spate of violence, including the shooting death of a 1-year-old boy in Brooklyn.
But a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who have been camped out near City Hall decided to block the march on the bridge. Police issued warnings and when they refused to move they were arrested. The AP is reporting that some of the protesters were “roughed up.” In particular there are several photos of one officer grabbing a protester by the hair at this link. Here’s video of officers making the arrests:
NYPD officers just violently arrest about a dozen protesters who’d linked arms to block the police march across Brooklyn Bridge. Members of community affairs unit who made arrests were just marching alongside pro police group pic.twitter.com/mmOZwFyfCM
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) July 15, 2020
At some point, and it’s not entirely clear when this happened, a person on the pedestrian walkway came over and started swinging a cane at police officers on the road below. Several of them were struck in the head. It looks like the attacker backed off after an officer pointed a taser at him. Here’s video released by the police.
Three officers violently attacked by protesters crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. The officers sustained serious injuries.
This is not peaceful protest, this will not be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/cYuDX8G7ku
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 15, 2020
Police also released several images showing the injuries sustained by the officers:
Additional footage of the serious injuries our officers sustained on the Brooklyn Bridge. pic.twitter.com/Ja9lTpQu0G
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 15, 2020
As noted above, one of the people who got injured was NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan. NBC New York reported that he sprained a finger and was cut during the attack.
Chief of Department Terrence Monahan said he sprained his pinky finger and got cut during the altercation on the Manhattan side of the bridge. Two other officers, a sergeant and a lieutenant, were taken to the hospital to get stitches.
Thirty-six people were arrested, according to the NYPD. Most appear to have been involved in the Occupy City Hall demonstrations; none arrested were part of the “Stop the Violence” rallies calling for an end to gun crimes in the city.
Our sister-site Twitchy notes that Chief Monahan took a knee with BLM protesters last month in a sign of solidarity. I guess that didn’t matter to whoever was swinging the club.
Highest-ranking uniformed member of the NYPD takes a knee with protesters following the death of George Floyd.
Chief of Department Terence Monahan urged demonstrators to "be safe" as he hugged them. https://t.co/dAKlPisUk6 pic.twitter.com/njjBiVSxEC
— ABC News (@ABC) June 2, 2020
This CBS 2 report gives a pretty good summary of the overall scene before the attack on the officers:
