A protester in New York City quickly found himself pinned to the ground by a swarm of police officers, after mounting the hood of a NYPD vehicle. Footage of the incident has elicited both applause and anger on social media.
Countless police vehicles have been vandalized and destroyed in ongoing riots across the United States, but one demonstrator in New York City may have been too hasty while trying to get a piece of the action.
A video circulating on social media shows a man standing on a NYPD cruiser waving his arms. Seconds later, a police officer sprints from the driver’s side of the vehicle and tackles him, throwing the protester to the ground. Within seconds, around half a dozen cops surround the man and start beating him with batons. The protester tries to escape but is quickly contained, with officers forming a perimeter around him as he gets cuffed.
The clip stands in stark contrast to the numerous videos and photographs of police cars smashed up and even set on fire by rioters in cities all over the country. Conservative pundit Mark Dice described the case as a “touchdown” for the NYPD, while others claimed that the police reaction was needlessly harsh.
Protests have sprung up from coast to coast following the killing of Minnesotan George Floyd, who died while in police custody. One Minneapolis officer has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder, but demonstrators have demanded that the three other cops involved in the incident should be prosecuted. More than a dozen cities across the US have called in state and national guards and have imposed curfews, in various bids to restore order.
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