Curbs for NY’S finest after man, 75, left to bleed
Governor promises change after ‘utterly disgraceful’ video of police shoving elderly protester to ground
‘Stopping police abuse restores trust. It restores safety. For the sake of our community we must do it’
THE governor of New York yesterday called for major reform of the state’s policing as he tried to quell outrage over a video which showed an elderly man being shoved by officers and left to bleed on the ground.
The footage shows the uniformed officers pushing the 75-year-old, who had approached a line of police clearing demonstrators from a public square in Buffalo, upstate New York, as an 8pm curfew came into force.
The man is seen falling backward and hitting his head. Blood leaks onto the pavement as police walk past. Buffalo police initially said that a person was injured when he “tripped and fell”, but then opened an internal investigation after the video emerged.
The two officers involved have been suspended, but Andrew Cuomo called for them to be fired and criminal charges brought.
The governor, who played the “utterly disgraceful” footage to reporters at a press conference in Albany, said he had spoken to the victim, who was in a stable condition after recovering from concussion.
Mr Cuomo is pushing for the state to pass legislation under the Say Their Name reform package scheduled to be heard next week. He said he wanted to see police disciplinary records made transparent, officers banned from using chokeholds and for the Attorney General to act as independent prosecutor for police murder cases. He also said “false” 911 calls based on a person’s race should be considered a hate crime.
“It is in all of our interest to stop police abuse,” he said. “It restores trust. It restores safety. For the sake of our communities, we must do this.”
The city of Minneapolis last night agreed with the state to ban the use of chokeholds and to require police to report and intervene anytime they see an unauthorised use of force by an officer.
There have been unprecedented scenes of violence up and down the country this past week.
The New York Police Department, in particular, has come under intense criticism for its heavy-handed tactics.
With more than 2,000 arrests, the state has made more than a fifth of the total number of arrests across the country since protests began 10 days ago.
On Thursday night, police used batons against protesters who in Brooklyn after curfew. Videos showed officers handcuffing doctors, nurses and delivery drivers, despite officials stating essential workers were exempt.
President Donald Trump yesterday gave his first public address in five days, briefly mentioning the unrest but declining to take questions. He put his finger to his lips when asked by one
African-american journalist about the protests.
“Nobody’s ever done for the black community what President Trump is doing,” he told reporters as he congratulated himself on encouraging new employment figures.
“Hopefully, George [Floyd] is looking down right now and saying, ‘This is a great thing happening for our country’,” Mr Trump said. “A great day for him, a great day for everybody.”
In an open letter to the British public, the US ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, admitted there was “much work to be done” on racism, adding that: “It is through peaceful protests that injustice is most successfully addressed.”
Protesters were also planning to take to the streets in France following the publication yesterday of racist comments from a private police Facebook group that sparked an investigation.