Mask cop’s brag
‘Ripped the s- - - off,’ he says on camera
A cop who pulled down the mask of a peaceful Brooklyn protester to pepper-spray him in the face bragged about it to his fellow officers minutes later, body-camera footage released Tuesday by the NYPD shows.
The officer boasted to another cop, “I took the guy’s goggles, I ripped the s—- off and I used it” as he marched through Flatbush May 30. He’s been suspended without pay after video of the disturbing incident was posted on social media.
The NYPD’s press office has refused to name the cop, directing all inquiries to the department’s Freedom of Information Law office, but the protester’s lawyer and a law enforcement source have identified him as Officer Michael Sher.
On Tuesday, the NYPD released 30 minutes of body camera footage from the officer and a nearby cop showing the leadup to the pepper spray blast and the police response several minutes after. The cop is also seen spraying several other protesters as their hands are raised over their heads.
The video starts with Sher standing in a police line, observing the protest for about five minutes.
“Stand back! Stand back! Stand back!” Sher repeated as the line of cops advance into the crowd, pushing one protester with a phone in his hand.
A minute later, he shoved a woman close to him.
When he encountered protester Andrew Smith on the corner of Bedford and Tilden Aves. in Flatbush, Sher yanked Smith’s glasses off, pulls down his mask and sprays him.
Beforehand, Smith is seen holding his hands high in the air and standing in the middle of the street for several seconds before Sher pepper-sprayed him. Smith made no moves against any of the officers, the video shows.
Thirty seconds later, Sher sprayed two more groups of protesters. “Who are you protecting right now?” one protester asked, and Sher answered, “You.”
About seven minutes after he sprayed Smith, the officer blasted another crowd of protesters, then screamed out in pain, apparently caught in his own spray.
“I need water,” he yelled before an officer poured p a water bottle on his eyes to relieve the pain.
Smith’s lawyer, Alain Massena, demanded Sher be arrested, and questioned why Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez hasn’t charged the cop. “That video footage not only corroborates what Andrew Smith has told the district attorney’s office regarding his assault, but it shows this officer’s conduct was even worse because he attacked multiple protesters,” Massena said.
“The district attorney has this information. They have had this information for at least a week. It begs the question, what are you waiting for? Why hasn’t this officer been arrested? Why hasn’t this officer been charged?” the lawyer continued. “Why is this officer receiving treatment different from how the residents of Kings County are routinely treated by this office?”
“Prosecutors are actively investigating the incident and are looking, among other things, for other potential victims and witnesses depicted in the body cam video,” said Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the DA’s office.
Smith, who went back out protesting the next day, declined to comment.
“He actually sweeps forward, then comes back to me and then initiates contact,” Smith told the Daily News in an interview after the attack.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced June 5 that the officer would be suspended as the Internal Affairs Bureau investigates.
Though the state last week repealed a decades-old law shielding police discipline records from public review, it’s not yet clear how the NYPD will release those records.
Another officer, Vincent D’Andraia, was charged with assault after prosecutors say he cursed out a young protester May 29, then shoved her to the pavement, causing a seizure. That attack was also caught on video.