A horrifying video went viral this week showing police officers getting brutally assaulted by a phalanx of people blockading the Brooklyn Bridge. After attackers were arrested, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan is speaking out to describe the alleged assailants as “anarchists.”
“They are part of this anarchist group that has been infiltrating this Black Lives movement since the beginning,” Monahan said, according to the New York Post. “This is what we dealt with since the first protest after George Floyd. It is a legitimate movement, but it is being hijacked by these anarchists, and they are the ones that have been attacking our police officers [and] are out hiding behind the many, many peaceful protesters that are out there.”
Two assailants have been identified as Quran Campbell, 25, and Shayborn Banks, also 25. Campbell has been charged with attacking three separate officers, while Banks was charged with allegedly assaulting a police lieutenant and criminal possession of a weapon. Warning—the following video depicts graphic imagery and strong language:
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Monahan went on to say that he was “bruised up” after officers attempting to effect an arrest on the bridge were attacked by other aggressors.
“I have some bruises on my body, my hands, fingers got jammed up, nothing broken,” he said, adding that two other cops took a beating as well.
“My sergeant who works with me was hit in the head with a cane,” Monahan said. “He got eight staples put in his head, one of the lieutenants out on the walkway was attacked by an individual — he had the broken orbital bone in his face.”
“That’s the individual that I reached over and I had to struggle with,” the chief continued, identifying the attacker as Campbell. “I got punched a few times by him, but we were able to get him in custody.”
Monahan concluded by saying that while the bridge attack was taking place, he didn’t think at all about the city Council’s anti-chokehold bill, which includes a ban on maneuvers that would compress a suspect’s diaphragm. The police chief had previously described this ban as “dangerous.”
“As a police officer, we make arrests,” Monahan said. “I cannot be thinking about that bill or worrying about that while I’m fighting with somebody. It’s what I had to do yesterday, it was not in my mind and I asked my cops, ‘Don’t worry about this, if you’re doing the right thing, if you’re using a reasonable amount of force to place someone in custody, don’t worry about that bill.’”
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on July 16, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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