Viral videos showing New York police getting doused in water have prompted an investigation - and a flood of derisive tweets after authorities' plea to "respect the police" appeared to add insult to years of police-abuse injury.
With anti-police sentiment running especially high in New York following federal authorities' decision not to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo over the choking death of unarmed black man Eric Garner on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes, Twitter was quick to turn the #Respectthepolice hashtag into a venting session.
Viral videos show a group of teens splashing water on an officer attempting to arrest one of their number; one boy throws a bucket at the cop, hitting him on the head. Police had been called to the scene over a "disorderly group," according to NYPD chief Terence Monahan, when they recognized one of the group had an outstanding arrest warrant and grabbed him.
"The videos of cops being doused with water and having objects hurled at them as they made an arrest in Harlem is reprehensible. NYC's cops and communities have made remarkable progress - together - but EVERY New Yorker MUST show respect for our cops," Monahan tweeted.
The NYPD chief's words triggered a cavalcade of outrage and mockery from tweeters who pointed out that cops rarely showed respect to civilians, and shouldn't expect what they weren't prepared to give. Police could expect respect "when they stop using excessive force, stealing with civil forfeiture, and stop acting like assh***s," one user tweeted. "Pouring water on them is more respectful than I would have been," another mused. Others wondered why the dousing was such a big deal when police brutality is rampant. "Definitely cops should murder people over water or a red plastic ball," one user snarked.
Many pointed out that it was just water, on a 90-degree day, no less. Others posted videos and photos of police disrespecting New Yorkers - and committing worse crimes.
A few tweeters sympathized with the officers, wondering "who raised these animals" and condemning the "lawlessness and disrespect."
None of the bucket-wielders were arrested - which is the real crime, according to Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch. "At a minimum, there should be a felony charge for assaulting a police officer by throwing or spraying water or any other substance, and a misdemeanor charge for the attempt to do so," he said in a statement on Tuesday. Current law permits officers to make arrests or write tickets in response to assaults-by-water, but the District Attorney is unlikely to prosecute.
Also on rt.com NYPD cop who used chokehold on Eric Garner ‘won’t be charged’ as case times outFormer New York mayor Rudy Giuliani blamed de Blasio for being weak on crime, claiming the Democratic presidential candidate was "single handedly trying to deconstruct all that the two prior Mayors accomplished." But de Blasio claimed crime has never been lower in New York - and that his administration has had to work hard to bridge the divide between cops and communities that Giuliani's administration "helped create."
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