Investigations launched after video shows NYPD officers punching and kicking wrongly identified suspect
The New York Police Department has launched an investigation after online videos showed two of its officers punching and kicking a wrongly identified suspect they were trying to arrest.
Per The Guardian, the incident occurred on Tuesday, and the officers’ actions were widely condemned by city officials. In the videos that were shared online, the two officers are seen landing multiple punches and kicks on the man as they try to arrest him.
The New York City police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, released a statement on Wednesday, saying that an investigation into the incident has since been launched.
“There are a number of videos circulating online of an incident that occurred yesterday inside a store in Brooklyn involving two members of the NYPD,” she said on X.
Tisch also said that the videos “are deeply disturbing, and the matter is under active investigation by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.”
Tisch said that the two officers in question have since been placed on desk duty and their “guns and shields have been removed.”
The NYPD said that the Tuesday incident occurred in the neighborhood of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, and the two officers were “engaged in a planned and supervised” undercover drug operation in the area. The NYPD also stated that the man in the video was a wrongly identified suspect.
Police said that they were trying to locate a suspect linked to a drug deal that took place earlier on Tuesday, and the man “matched the description” of that suspect. Police, however, said they “later determined” that the man who was repeatedly kicked and punched by the officers “was not involved in the drug sale,” per The Guardian.
Authorities later charged the man in the video with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. He was given a a desk appearance ticket, but the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, told CBS News that the man won’t be facing any charges.
“This individual was not charged with any offense related to the sale of narcotics because it was later determined that he was not involved in the drug sale,” police said.
In the aftermath of the incident, several city officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, condemned the officers’ actions.
“The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable,” Mamdani shared on X. “Officers should never treat a person this way. The NYPD is conducting a full investigation into this incident.”
“This is deeply disturbing and unacceptable behavior from members of law enforcement,” New York City comptroller Mark Levine also posted on X. “Commissioner Tisch has rightly initiated an investigation.”
Lincoln Restler, a Brooklyn city council member, called for the officers in the video to be “suspended immediately and ultimately fired,” adding that “our NYPD must have a zero tolerance policy for police brutality.”
