NEW YORK — New York Police Department officers were attacked Wednesday when they attempted to keep two dueling demonstrations concerning local law enforcement separated and under control.
Chief of Department Terrance Monahan was among the officers attacked. An NYPD spokesman confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Monahan sustained an injury to his hand. Another officer required nine staples to his head.
The attack happened while a “Take Back Our Streets” march took place on the Brooklyn Bridge. The NYPD’s press office told the Washington Examiner that 37 people were arrested, but it is unclear how many of those individuals were directly involved in the attacks.
“This is not [a] peaceful protest, this will not be tolerated,” the department wrote on Twitter.
VICIOUS ATTACK: Three #NYPD officers were violently attacked by protesters crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. The officers sustained serious injuries. @NYCMayor @AOC #DefundThePolice pic.twitter.com/CM58UudkPv
— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) July 15, 2020
Called the Power of Prayer march and composed of local clergy members, former law enforcement, and several local activist organizations from around the city, the groups came together in an effort to not only support the NYPD but to end the rising gun violence in the city. However, they were first met by anti-police counterprotesters on the Brooklyn Bridge on their way over to City Hall.
Tempers flared from “defund the police” protesters as the pro-police march made its way across the Brooklyn Bridge. Black Lives Matter demonstrators hissed at NYPD officers who separated the two groups during speeches and remarks by community leaders, clergy, and Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins, among others.
Last month, the NYPD’s plainclothes anti-crime unit was disbanded, and since then, shootings in the city have increased significantly. Supporters of the NYPD are calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council to reassemble the anti-crime unit whose focus was on seizing illegal guns from the streets.
Numerous protests have taken place across the city in the last month since George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in Minneapolis police custody in late May after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
