COPS BUST 57, CHIEF HIT BY SPIT IN ELEX PROTESTS
One woman tallies her third arrest since Sept. stemming from city rallies
Police arrested 57 demonstrators during a wild Manhattan election protest, including a woman they say punched an NYPD chief and a woman caught on camera calling a cop a “fascist” and spitting in his face, officials said Thursday.
When the protest ended Wednesday night, 34 men and 23 women were facing a variety of charges and violations, cops said.
At least one demonstrator was sent to court while 24 were given desk appearance tickets. An additional 32 received criminal court summonses.
Several small fires were set as protests in Greenwich Village grew unruly and marchers clashed with cops trying to stop their march through the neighborhood.
During the skirmishes, protesters pelted NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan’s SUV with eggs while Assistant Chief Stephen Hughes, the commander of Patrol Borough Manhattan South, was punched in the face as he helped arrest a demonstrator.
The woman who allegedly punched the chief, Rachel Mernard, 23, of Brooklyn, was charged with assaulting a police officer.
Devina Singh, 24, of Pennsylvania was also taken into custody for screaming “F—- you, fascist!” and spitting into a police officer’s face. The exchange, as well as the moment when the cop tackled her to the ground and arrested her, was caught on video.
Singh was charged with obstructing government administration and given a criminal court summons for spitting, which is a violation of COVID rules.
It’s at least the third arrest for the perennial protester in as many months, officials said.
Singh was arrested Oct. 27 when she was rounded up with other protesters seen scrawling graffiti on buildings and smashing windows during an unruly march through Downtown Brooklyn. Cops charged her with unlawful assembly.
On Sept. 18, she allegedly jumped on the back of a cop making an arrest during a protest at Washington Square Park after the announcement of the indictment of the cop who killed Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
Cops took her into custody, and she was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of government administration.
“It just seems like it is impossible to deny there is a genocide being sanctioned by the state against Black and Brown bodies in a systemic fashion,” she told a Daily News reporter during the Sept. 18 protest. “We gotta stop it now before it gets worse and fascism and ethnic cleansing are allowed to go unchecked.”
After each arrest, she was given a desk appearance ticket and sent home, cops said.
Singh declined to speak to reporters when reached Thursday.
Also arrested was 23-year-old Christine Brown, who police said kicked and ground her heel into a cop’s leg, causing it to bleed, and city Department of Environmental
Protection employee Serjay Parks, 21, who allegedly grabbed and shoved a cop setting up a perimeter line on Seventh
Ave. South and
Leroy St.
Cops also recovered fireworks from Parks, who was charged with obstructing government administration, criminal possession of a weapon, harassment and unlawful possession of fireworks.
Brown was charged with assault and resisting arrest.
Police recovered M-80s from protesters, as well as two knives from a 16-year-old girl, officials said.
The evening started peacefully with about 400 protesters from an array of organizations marching in a Count Every Vote rally down Fifth Ave. Many protesters waved signs supporting Joe Biden, who is closing in on the electoral votes that could oust President Trump from the White House.
That group moved peacefully downtown to Washington Square Park, where another batch of protesters had amassed. As the two groups mingled, the Count Every Vote protesters dispersed, while the others started marching toward Seventh Ave.
Soon chants of “F—- Trump!” “F—- Biden!” and “F—- the police!” broke out, and many marchers clashed with cops near Leroy St.
“Our group worked desperately to be nonviolent and avoid police confrontation, and we did so,” said Justin Hendrix, one of the organizers of the Count Every Vote event. “This other group started where we ended.”
Protesters set several garbage fires along Bleecker St. but no property damage was reported.