The NYPD has launched an internal investigation after footage appeared to show at least eight officers violently arresting a young black man.
The – viewed millions of times on social media – has sparked protests outside the local police precinct, and ignited a row between mayor Bill de Blasio and the largest police union in the city, where distrust of officers remains high after decades of police brutality.
Fitzroy Gayle, 20, can be seen asking a plainclothes police officer who has cornered him in a Brooklyn street on Wednesday: “What crime did I commit? What did I do? He saw me in the park and came out and followed me. Why are you following me?”
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With the officer appearing to hold a stun gun and refusing to tell Mr Gayle why he is being detained, three more officers can be seen running towards Mr Gayle and tackling him to the ground, eliciting apparently terrified screams and pleas from the young man.
At least eight officers piled in simultaneously before Mr Gayle was taken away. He was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and possession of cannabis.
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1/50 30 March 2020
A stray dog walks in front of an empty historic India Gate, as nationwide lockdown continues over the coronavirus in New Delhi, India
Getty
2/50 29 March 2020
A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul
AP
3/50 28 March 2020
Hong Kong’s skyline is seen with some of its lights turned off to mark the Earth Hour, an environmental campaign
AFP/Getty
4/50 27 March 2020
Ukrainian citizens queue at the Polish-Ukrainian border during the coronavirus pandemic in Korczowa, Poland. On 13 March, Poland closed its borders due to the ongoing pandemic of the Co-19 and has extended the measure until at least 11 April
EPA
5/50 26 March 2020
Tenon hospital emergency services staff members gesture during a break, on March 26, 2020 in Paris, as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Co-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
AFP via Getty
6/50 25 March 2020
Aerial view showing almost empty streets in Bogota, taken during the lockdown ordered by the government to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
7/50 24 March 2020
Staff members line up to attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the Co-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year
AFP via Getty
8/50 23 March 2020
A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the Co-19 coronavirus in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
9/50 22 March 2020
Boys wearing protective and N95 masks play with a football outside their homes in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
10/50 21 March 2020
A woman standing on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother’s day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother’s Day this year, but three students have come up with a novel service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions
AFP via Getty
11/50 20 March 2020
Newlyweds Diego Fernandes, 46 and Deni Salgado, 30, kiss through protective face masks at a wedding ceremony with only witnesses and no guests, as public gatherings are banned as part of Italy’s lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in Naples
Reuters
12/50 19 March 2020
Members of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province chant slogans at a ceremony marking their departure after helping with the Co-19 coronavirus recovery effort, in Wuhan. Medical teams from across China began leaving Wuhan this week after the number of new coronavirus infections dropped. China on reported no new domestic cases for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections from abroad
AFP via Getty
13/50 18 March 2020
Sri Lankan police wear face masks a rehearsal parade in Colombo
AFP via Getty
14/50 17 March 2020
Divers clean and swipe the floor and walls of a pool at an aquatic complex in Medellin after the closure of all sporting venues in Colombia as a preventive measure against the spread of the Co-19
AFP via Getty
15/50 16 March 2020
Workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus at the Mubarikiya market following the outbreak of coronavirus, in Kuwait City
EPA
16/50 15 March 2020
People gather with their belongings at the scene of the fire outbreak at Abule-Ado in Lagos, Nigeria
Reuters
17/50 14 March 2020
A man feeds pidgeons at Cataluna Square in Barcelona
EPA
18/50 13 March 2020
A mosso de esquadra police officer stands on the closed off road near Igualada, Spain. Over 60,000 people awoke Friday in four towns near Barcelona confined to their homes and with police blocking roads. The order by regional authorities in Catalonia is Spain’s first mandatory lockdown as Co-19 coronavirus infections increase sharply
AP
19/50 12 March 2020
Italian mechanics Giacomo and Alessandro pose at their garage in Rome, as Italy shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a desperate bid to halt the spread of a coronavirus that has killed 827 in the the country in just over two weeks
AFP via Getty
20/50 11 March 2020
Monks pray for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during a memorial service on the coast in Iwaki, Fukushima. Japan marked the ninth anniversary of the killer tsunami that triggered the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, but fears about the new coronavirus forced a scaling back of public commemorations
Jiji Press/AFP via Getty
21/50 10 March 2020
Revellers dance as they celebrate Holi, the spring festival of colours in Allahabad
AFP/Getty
22/50 9 March 2020
Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China
AFP/Getty
23/50 8 March 2020
A hundred members of the conservative activist group called Manif pour Tous (“Protest for Everyone”) dressed as Marianne, French Republic’s allegory, stage a protest against assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France
AFP/Getty
24/50 7 March 2020
A migrant man runs away as another one takes cover behind a bin as Greek police use water cannons to block them trying to break fences in the Turkey-Greece border province of Edirne
AFP/Getty
25/50 6 March 2020
Police and forensic experts inspect the scene of an explosion near the US embassy in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia
AFP/Getty
26/50 5 March 2020
Migrants prepare for the coming night in a forest in the buffer zone at the Turkey-Greece border a crossing point
AFP/Getty
27/50 4 March 2020
A migrant rests with a child in his arms next to the Tunca river in Edirne, Turkey
Reuters
28/50 3 March 2020
Spanish policemen and civil guards sporting Guy Fawkes masks protest in front of Spanish policemen standing guard during a demonstration to demand fair wages in Madrid
AFP via Getty
29/50 2 March 2020
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a market in Daegu
Yonhap/AFP via Getty
30/50 1 March 2020
A woman shouts as law enforcement officials move in to disperse a group of immigrants who had occupied a historic church and a square. They are demanding to be moved to another country as they claim to feel not safe because of xenophobic attacks in central Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
31/50 29 February 2020
Greek border guard use teargas to push back migrants who try to enter Greece at the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Turkey
AP
32/50 28 February 2020
A woman makes her way and NGO’s members help as a dinghy with 54 Afghan refugees lands ashore the Greek island of Lesbos. Turkey will no longer close its border gates to refugees who want to go to Europe, a senior official told AFP, shortly after the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike in northern Syria
AFP via
33/50 27 February 2020
Snow has fallen in high ground in Tasmania during the Australian summer
Tasmanian Rover Ski Club / Facebook
34/50 26 February 2020
Men ride a motorcycle past security forces patrolling a street in a riot-affected area of Delhi on Wednesday
Reuters
35/50 25 February 2020
Workers disinfect subway trains against coronavirus in Tehran, Iran
AP
36/50 24 February 2020
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters fire their anti-aircraft gun in the town of Sarmin, about 8 kilometres southeast of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, as they take part in a military offensive on the village of Nayrab following an artillery barrage fired by Turkish forces
AFP via Getty
37/50 23 February 2020
A security guard wearing a protective face mask stand guard as masked and costumed people walk by during the Carnival in Venice, Italy
EPA
38/50 22 February 2020
People dressed in traditional Czech folklore costumes parade through the village of Vortova near the east Bohemian city of Pardubice during the traditional Masopust carnival. The festival marks the beginning of Lent. This folk tradition of the carnival parade of masks was registered in the UNESCO List of the Intagible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010
Getty
39/50 21 February 2020
An Iranian woman wearing a face mask shows her inked finger after casting her ballot at a polling station set up at the Abdol Azim shrine during the parliamentary elections in Shahr-e-Ray, Tehran Province, Iran. Iranians are heading to the polls to elect their representatives to the Islamic Consultative Assembly amid a worsening economic crisis and escalating tensions with the US
EPA
40/50 20 February 2020
Roger Stone, former advisor to US President Donald Trump arrives at court prior to his sentencing hearing. Trump’s longtime aide will be sentenced in a case that has caused a stir in Washington following meddling by the US president and his attorney general. Stone, one of the Republican leader’s allies and “oldest friends,” was convicted in November of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to cheat in the 2016 election
AFP via Getty
41/50 19 February 2020
Members of the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry take cover during a controlled explosion triggering an avalanche for public safety in the Tien Shan mountains outside Almaty, Kazakhstan
Reuters
42/50 18 February 2020
Women chant slogans during a demonstration against gender violence outside the National Palace, in Mexico City. Dozens of women protested over the murder of a seven-year-old girl in the Mexican capital, a case that generated anger and outrage. The murder of the minor shocked the country two days after hundreds of women protested in several cities in Mexico over the femicide of Ingrid Escamilla, a 25-year-old woman who was killed by her partner north of the Mexican capital
AFP via Getty
43/50 17 February 2020
People gather at the site of a bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan
Reuters
44/50 16 February 2020
Dogs wearing masks are seen at a main shopping area, in downtown Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus
REUTERS
45/50 15 February 2020
Men dressed in loincloths prepare to snatch a wooden stick called “shingi” tossed by the priest during a naked festival at Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture Japan February 15, 2020. The person who grabs the wooden stick is considered the “luckiest man of the year”.
REUTERS
46/50 14 February 2020
Squirrels eat treats at a ‘Valentine’s day party’ organised for them by staff in Skopje Zoo, North Macedonia
Reuters
47/50 13 February 2020
Internally displaced children stand on snow near tents at a makeshift camp in Azaz, Syria
Reuters
48/50 12 February 2020
A model presents a creation from the Marc Jacobs Fall/Winter 2020 collection during New York Fashion Week
Reuters
49/50 11 February 2020
Hawaiian surfer Kai Lenny rides a wave during the big waves Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge in Nazare
AFP via Getty
50/50 10 February 2020
A worker wears a protective suit as he stands outside an office building while checking people entering in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than 40000 in mainland China. The country has continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to over 900, mostly in Hubei province, and cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and several others. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert and screening has been stepped up at airports around the world. Some countries, including the United States, have put restrictions on Chinese travellers entering and advised their citizens against travel to China
Getty
1/50 30 March 2020
A stray dog walks in front of an empty historic India Gate, as nationwide lockdown continues over the coronavirus in New Delhi, India
Getty
2/50 29 March 2020
A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul
AP
3/50 28 March 2020
Hong Kong’s skyline is seen with some of its lights turned off to mark the Earth Hour, an environmental campaign
AFP/Getty
4/50 27 March 2020
Ukrainian citizens queue at the Polish-Ukrainian border during the coronavirus pandemic in Korczowa, Poland. On 13 March, Poland closed its borders due to the ongoing pandemic of the Co-19 and has extended the measure until at least 11 April
EPA
5/50 26 March 2020
Tenon hospital emergency services staff members gesture during a break, on March 26, 2020 in Paris, as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Co-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
AFP via Getty
6/50 25 March 2020
Aerial view showing almost empty streets in Bogota, taken during the lockdown ordered by the government to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
7/50 24 March 2020
Staff members line up to attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the Co-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year
AFP via Getty
8/50 23 March 2020
A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the Co-19 coronavirus in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
9/50 22 March 2020
Boys wearing protective and N95 masks play with a football outside their homes in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
10/50 21 March 2020
A woman standing on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother’s day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother’s Day this year, but three students have come up with a novel service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions
AFP via Getty
11/50 20 March 2020
Newlyweds Diego Fernandes, 46 and Deni Salgado, 30, kiss through protective face masks at a wedding ceremony with only witnesses and no guests, as public gatherings are banned as part of Italy’s lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in Naples
Reuters
12/50 19 March 2020
Members of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province chant slogans at a ceremony marking their departure after helping with the Co-19 coronavirus recovery effort, in Wuhan. Medical teams from across China began leaving Wuhan this week after the number of new coronavirus infections dropped. China on reported no new domestic cases for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections from abroad
AFP via Getty
13/50 18 March 2020
Sri Lankan police wear face masks a rehearsal parade in Colombo
AFP via Getty
14/50 17 March 2020
Divers clean and swipe the floor and walls of a pool at an aquatic complex in Medellin after the closure of all sporting venues in Colombia as a preventive measure against the spread of the Co-19
AFP via Getty
15/50 16 March 2020
Workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus at the Mubarikiya market following the outbreak of coronavirus, in Kuwait City
EPA
16/50 15 March 2020
People gather with their belongings at the scene of the fire outbreak at Abule-Ado in Lagos, Nigeria
Reuters
17/50 14 March 2020
A man feeds pidgeons at Cataluna Square in Barcelona
EPA
18/50 13 March 2020
A mosso de esquadra police officer stands on the closed off road near Igualada, Spain. Over 60,000 people awoke Friday in four towns near Barcelona confined to their homes and with police blocking roads. The order by regional authorities in Catalonia is Spain’s first mandatory lockdown as Co-19 coronavirus infections increase sharply
AP
19/50 12 March 2020
Italian mechanics Giacomo and Alessandro pose at their garage in Rome, as Italy shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a desperate bid to halt the spread of a coronavirus that has killed 827 in the the country in just over two weeks
AFP via Getty
20/50 11 March 2020
Monks pray for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during a memorial service on the coast in Iwaki, Fukushima. Japan marked the ninth anniversary of the killer tsunami that triggered the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, but fears about the new coronavirus forced a scaling back of public commemorations
Jiji Press/AFP via Getty
21/50 10 March 2020
Revellers dance as they celebrate Holi, the spring festival of colours in Allahabad
AFP/Getty
22/50 9 March 2020
Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China
AFP/Getty
23/50 8 March 2020
A hundred members of the conservative activist group called Manif pour Tous (“Protest for Everyone”) dressed as Marianne, French Republic’s allegory, stage a protest against assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France
AFP/Getty
24/50 7 March 2020
A migrant man runs away as another one takes cover behind a bin as Greek police use water cannons to block them trying to break fences in the Turkey-Greece border province of Edirne
AFP/Getty
25/50 6 March 2020
Police and forensic experts inspect the scene of an explosion near the US embassy in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia
AFP/Getty
26/50 5 March 2020
Migrants prepare for the coming night in a forest in the buffer zone at the Turkey-Greece border a crossing point
AFP/Getty
27/50 4 March 2020
A migrant rests with a child in his arms next to the Tunca river in Edirne, Turkey
Reuters
28/50 3 March 2020
Spanish policemen and civil guards sporting Guy Fawkes masks protest in front of Spanish policemen standing guard during a demonstration to demand fair wages in Madrid
AFP via Getty
29/50 2 March 2020
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a market in Daegu
Yonhap/AFP via Getty
30/50 1 March 2020
A woman shouts as law enforcement officials move in to disperse a group of immigrants who had occupied a historic church and a square. They are demanding to be moved to another country as they claim to feel not safe because of xenophobic attacks in central Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
31/50 29 February 2020
Greek border guard use teargas to push back migrants who try to enter Greece at the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Turkey
AP
32/50 28 February 2020
A woman makes her way and NGO’s members help as a dinghy with 54 Afghan refugees lands ashore the Greek island of Lesbos. Turkey will no longer close its border gates to refugees who want to go to Europe, a senior official told AFP, shortly after the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike in northern Syria
AFP via
33/50 27 February 2020
Snow has fallen in high ground in Tasmania during the Australian summer
Tasmanian Rover Ski Club / Facebook
34/50 26 February 2020
Men ride a motorcycle past security forces patrolling a street in a riot-affected area of Delhi on Wednesday
Reuters
35/50 25 February 2020
Workers disinfect subway trains against coronavirus in Tehran, Iran
AP
36/50 24 February 2020
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters fire their anti-aircraft gun in the town of Sarmin, about 8 kilometres southeast of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, as they take part in a military offensive on the village of Nayrab following an artillery barrage fired by Turkish forces
AFP via Getty
37/50 23 February 2020
A security guard wearing a protective face mask stand guard as masked and costumed people walk by during the Carnival in Venice, Italy
EPA
38/50 22 February 2020
People dressed in traditional Czech folklore costumes parade through the village of Vortova near the east Bohemian city of Pardubice during the traditional Masopust carnival. The festival marks the beginning of Lent. This folk tradition of the carnival parade of masks was registered in the UNESCO List of the Intagible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010
Getty
39/50 21 February 2020
An Iranian woman wearing a face mask shows her inked finger after casting her ballot at a polling station set up at the Abdol Azim shrine during the parliamentary elections in Shahr-e-Ray, Tehran Province, Iran. Iranians are heading to the polls to elect their representatives to the Islamic Consultative Assembly amid a worsening economic crisis and escalating tensions with the US
EPA
40/50 20 February 2020
Roger Stone, former advisor to US President Donald Trump arrives at court prior to his sentencing hearing. Trump’s longtime aide will be sentenced in a case that has caused a stir in Washington following meddling by the US president and his attorney general. Stone, one of the Republican leader’s allies and “oldest friends,” was convicted in November of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to cheat in the 2016 election
AFP via Getty
41/50 19 February 2020
Members of the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry take cover during a controlled explosion triggering an avalanche for public safety in the Tien Shan mountains outside Almaty, Kazakhstan
Reuters
42/50 18 February 2020
Women chant slogans during a demonstration against gender violence outside the National Palace, in Mexico City. Dozens of women protested over the murder of a seven-year-old girl in the Mexican capital, a case that generated anger and outrage. The murder of the minor shocked the country two days after hundreds of women protested in several cities in Mexico over the femicide of Ingrid Escamilla, a 25-year-old woman who was killed by her partner north of the Mexican capital
AFP via Getty
43/50 17 February 2020
People gather at the site of a bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan
Reuters
44/50 16 February 2020
Dogs wearing masks are seen at a main shopping area, in downtown Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus
REUTERS
45/50 15 February 2020
Men dressed in loincloths prepare to snatch a wooden stick called “shingi” tossed by the priest during a naked festival at Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture Japan February 15, 2020. The person who grabs the wooden stick is considered the “luckiest man of the year”.
REUTERS
46/50 14 February 2020
Squirrels eat treats at a ‘Valentine’s day party’ organised for them by staff in Skopje Zoo, North Macedonia
Reuters
47/50 13 February 2020
Internally displaced children stand on snow near tents at a makeshift camp in Azaz, Syria
Reuters
48/50 12 February 2020
A model presents a creation from the Marc Jacobs Fall/Winter 2020 collection during New York Fashion Week
Reuters
49/50 11 February 2020
Hawaiian surfer Kai Lenny rides a wave during the big waves Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge in Nazare
AFP via Getty
50/50 10 February 2020
A worker wears a protective suit as he stands outside an office building while checking people entering in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than 40000 in mainland China. The country has continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to over 900, mostly in Hubei province, and cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and several others. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert and screening has been stepped up at airports around the world. Some countries, including the United States, have put restrictions on Chinese travellers entering and advised their citizens against travel to China
Getty
According to the NYPD, Mr Gayle and another unidentified man were spotted smoking cannabis in a park, before running from the police in different directions.
Further footage taken after Mr Gayle’s arrest by the same bystander appears to show several officers retracing Mr Gayle’s steps to search for cannabis – of which possession of less than an ounce is no longer a criminal offence in NYC, instead carrying a maximum fine of $50 (£38).
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced an internal investigation at a press conference on Thursday, adding that the officers involved – none of whom have been taken off duty – had been responding to reports of gunshots in the area at the time of Mr Gayle’s arrest.
But New York defence lawyer Rebecca Kavanagh noted the late addition of this detail and warned against its use it as justification for the officers’ use of force.
“This level of violence was completely unnecessary and unjustified,” Ms Kavanagh said on Twitter. “The young man was scared, but he was not a threat. He had his hands in the air. He was not resisting. He was simply asking why he was being arrested.”
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Commissioner Shea said there were “some disturbing points” to the . One of the officers could be seen standing on the man’s ankle, he said, offering a possible explanation for why Mr Gayle screamed during the scrum.
Photos of Mr Gayle taken after the arrest showed abrasions to his knee but no apparent injuries to his face or upper body, he added.
“The end is what concerns me,” Commissioner Shea said, adding a better outcome would have seen officers approaching the men followed by “discussion and no running” from police. “No physical resistance at all. No arrest needed.”
“This was painful to watch,” mayor Bill de Blasio said in response to the footage. “We still need to get all the facts about this case and a full investigation is underway, but I don’t like what I saw. It doesn’t reflect what we’re building in New York City.”
The city’s largest police union responded, calling de Blasio’s remarks “anti-police rhetoric”.
“You admit that you don’t have all the facts, and yet you’re passing judgement anyway,” the Police Benevolent Association said. ”When we say ‘anti-police rhetoric’, this is what we’re talking about. Your rush to judgement is inflaming the situation.”
The arrest came on the heels of renewed spotlight on stop, question and frisk, a policing strategy once championed by former mayor Mike Bloomberg, who expressed regret for its overuse as he launched his now-abandoned campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
At its peak, stop and frisk resulted in millions of mostly black and Hispanic New Yorkers being stopped by police. A federal judge ruled the practice unconstitutional in 2012, and the city drastically decreased its use the following year.
Muslim group denounces Michael Bloomberg’s lies over NYC surveillance programme police were forced to stop
But such encounters increased by 22 per cent last year, data released in February by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) showed.
NYPD officers conducted 13,459 stop and frisk procedures in 2019, up from 11,008 in 2018. Black people and non-white Hispanic people made up 88 percent of those stopped and 90 per cent of those frisked, and 88 per cent of those against whom force was used. About two-thirds of the 2019 stops resulted in neither an arrest nor a summons.
Mr Gayle’s lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, said the demonstrated “that the era of stop and frisk is not over in New York City”. He added: “The police officers involved in this brutal assault must be brought to justice.”
It was the latest episode in recent months to spark outrage about perceived overuse of force or unjust arrests by police.
In October, footage taken by a bystander showed a white police officer punching a black teenager during a fight on a Brooklyn subway platform, leading hundreds of people to march in protest.
A few weeks later, officers were accused of pulling their guns on a group of black trick-or-treaters in Brooklyn, detaining three of them for several hours.
In November, officers detained two women for selling churros without a license at subway stations, sparking backlash on social media after a of one of the encounters went viral.
Last August, the police department fired the officer whose chokehold led to Eric Garner’s dying gasps of “I can’t breathe” in 2014, a mantra that gave voice to a national debate over race and police use of force.
Additional reporting by AP
