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PROP's TAKE ON THE NEW TIMES SQUARE VIDEO
Dear Friends:
The office of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg released new footage of the widely covered Jan.27 attack on two NYPD officers that directly conflicts with NYPD accounts of the incident that were presented to the public principally by the Department's Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny:
** First, the men, who politicians & pundits had referred to as "brutes" & "wolfpack" members & whose behavior was called "remorseless, smug, & brazen" on Fox News, were not, as the NYPD had claimed, blocking pedestrian traffic. The video clearly shows people easily walking pass the men who were hanging out in front of a homeless shelter where it's possible that some of them lived.
** Chief of Detectives Kenny had claimed that the incident began when officers approached the men who were blocking the sidewalk to disperse. "Everybody disperses except for Mr.Brito", Kenny said, referring to Yohenry Brito who's now being held on Rikers Island on $15,000 bail. "He got confrontational with the police officers. He refused a lawful order."
** The new video shows, in fact, Brito standing with other men as people freely walk by. A police officer approaches Brito, fingers his jacket, & says, ""Let's Go. Vamos.". Brito holds up his hand & says in Spanish, "Don't touch me". The men begin walking away, singing in Spanish, with Brito following them, pushing a baby carriage that likely hold his possessions.
** To emphasize, Brito is following the officers' order & walking away from them. "He looks like ugly Betty," he says in Spanish referring to a popular Colombian telenovela. Apparently, one of the officers takes offense at Brito's remarks because he, the officer, takes hold of Brito by the collar & slams him into the wall of a nearby building. The two men tussle & fall to the ground with the officer's full body landing on top of Brito. The men who had been walking away then return, yell at the police, & begin kicking them & grabbing at them in an effort to free Brito.
The new video footage clearly shows that, by releasing only footage of the men kicking the officers & concocting a false narrative of the events leading up to the attack, the NYPD & Chief Kenny intentionally lied to the press. Motivated by institutional & not the public's interests, their purpose was to present officers, who had engaged in abusive & unprofessional conduct, in the best possible light. While police officials press for DA Bragg to indict & convict the men involved in the attacks, Mayor Adams should press the same officials to hold them accountable & to dismiss from the force the two officers whose needlessly aggressive & violent actions triggered the incident that will probably result in prison terms for a group of men who were doing nothing more than minding their own business.
Please feel free to be in touch with us with your questions or concerns about this incident &/or PROP's take on it.
Also, please seriously consider making a tax exempt contribution to our critically important work aimed at exposing & ending the NYPD's racist & abusive practices such as the officers' actions shown in the new video we just discussed.
As always, many thanks for your interest & support.
Onward,
Bob & Michaela
Bob Gangi,
PROP Director
917-327-7648
rpagangi@gmail.com
Michaela Bapis,
PROP Project Coordinator
michaelabapis@gmail.com
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