Thirty people arrested by NYPD at end of peaceful MLK Day march
After a day of celebration for the civil rights icon, the police response turned violent
This week chaos broke out between NYPD and protesters who were attending a peaceful rally being held in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Monday afternoon, the Black Lives Matter demonstration reportedly began in Brooklyn as part of an annual commemoration of the late civil rights leader. That evening hundreds of protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge where they were met by authorities demanding they disperse.
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According to CBS, as a result, approximately 30 people were arrested, authorities say ten police officers were injured including a captain struck on the head with a bottle.
News cameras captured the scene as NYPD warned the crowd to move out of the street. When the order wasn’t immediately heeded officers started pushing into the crowd and making arrests.
The arrested protesters are now facing charges for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and blocking a roadway. Not surprisingly, many pointed out that this aggressive response to a largely peaceful group of Black liberation demonstrators was in stark contrast to the grace and patience shown to the visibly more violent mob of Trump supporters who breached the U.S. Capitol.
But Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told NY1 that the department stands behind their actions, shifting blame instead onto the rally attendees.
According to The New York Post, although the protest was intended to call for racial and social justice in honor of MLK Day, Shea rejected the idea, stating that he believed the rally was the “antithesis of what Martin Luther King stood for.”
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“On such a day that we’re honoring Martin Luther King, [we have] demonstrations that consist of violence, throwing bottles, breaking property, calling for the death of officers [and] to burn the city down,” he said.
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