New York State Democrat Attorney filed a complaint against New York City Police for using "excessive force" during protests against racism after the death of black American George Floyd.
"There is no doubt that the New York Police force has repeatedly used excessive, brutal and unlawful force," prosecutor Letizia James said in a statement after investigating more than 1,300 complaints received by her office.
She added that from May to December 2020, New York police "blatantly" made unjustified arrests, using batons, pepper spray and cordon techniques, in the face of "largely peaceful" protesters.
It cited "155 cases in which police used excessive and unreasonable force."
The complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, targets Dermot Shea and Terence Monahan, the two chief officials of the New York Police Department, which is the largest police force in the United States, with 35,000 personnel, and also targets their president, Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The prosecutor asserts that these “have not trained, supervised, or arrested the police officers involved in these harmful acts,” calling for “structural reforms” and the appointment of an “external” observer to verify the conduct of demonstrations in the future.
The mayor and New York police officials did not comment.
The manner of dealing with the protests exacerbated feelings of mistrust towards the police (Anatolia)
Fury against the police
During the May and June protests, when tens of thousands demonstrated for several days in Manhattan and Brooklyn, numerous videos circulated showing police roughing up or pouncing on peaceful protesters.
The heart of Manhattan had been plundered twice, prompting the mayor to impose a curfew.
The handling of the protests exacerbated feelings of mistrust towards the police, which some say contributed to the sharp rise in murders in New York in 2020, increasing by 40% compared to 2019.
But the powerful Police Syndicate, which bears the name of the Police Charitable Society, refuted these criticisms and denounced the chaos caused by the demonstrators, knowing that the president of the association participated in Trump's re-election campaign.
Several police officers were criticized after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, by suffocation by a white policeman.
Many protesters across the United States chanted the slogan "Stop funding the police," in exchange for Trump and his supporters calling for the restoration of "law and order."