New York, Jan 19 (EFE) .- A march organized by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to commemorate activist Martin Luther King Jr. this Monday in New York turned violent and resulted in 29 people arrested and 11 police officers injured. , as reported by local media on Tuesday.
Hundreds of participants in the “Black Liberation March” left the Barclays Center stadium, the BLM meeting point, and crossed the iconic Brooklyn Bridge to reach the City Hall in southern Manhattan, where a large number of vehicles had been deployed. local police officers (NYPD) and clashes broke out.
According to the head of the NYPD, Dermott Shea, to the local channel NY1, “in a day to remember Martin Luther King there were demonstrations that consisted of violence, throwing bottles, breaking properties, calling for the death of agents and razing the city.” which he considered the “antithesis” of the legacy of the historic anti-racist activist.
However, videos posted on social media show tense moments in which officers corner and charge into the crowd near the Mayor’s Office, while some protesters told local media that policemen pushed and grabbed people on the sidewalk and they hadn’t stood up to them.
In total, 29 people were arrested for disorderly conduct, obstruction of authority, resistance to arrest and road blockade, most of them released with a court summons; while 11 policemen were injured, one of them hit in the helmet with a bottle, but none seriously.
The police chief said the violence was “created by people who want to destroy the city” and groups who “want to destroy our way of life and harm the police who risk their lives every day” and who attend demonstrations without having ” intention to protest peacefully. ”
This latest episode of clashes between protesters and police comes days after New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the NYPD for a “pattern of excessive, brutal and illegal force against peaceful protesters” in anti-racist protests last summer. after George Floyd’s death.
In that sense, Shea addressed James in statements to NY1: “This is the news for the (attorney general): they are actions caused by people who want to destroy our lifestyle and our city.”
Last summer’s protests and their police response led to the creation of state laws outlawing aggressive tactics, among other things, while New York City diverted about $ 1 billion from the NYPD budget to other departments. EFE
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