A plainclothes New York City police officer was stripped of his gun and badge on Friday after a video was shared on Facebook showing him locking a submission hold (Kimura) and pulling out his gun on bystanders during the arrest in Harlem, then punching a man who was videotaping the episode, authorities said.
I witness police brutality today and it just has to stop… I’m sitting there recording the cops beating and abusing a young man up and he sits there and pulls a gun and out me flashing it for no apparent reason….. Please share this has to stop
Click to watch:
Another clip shows the officer leaving the building, where he encounters Jahnico Harvey, 19, and clocks him in the head before wrestling him to the ground:
NYtimes.com has more:
The officer, who was assigned to the anticrime unit in the 32nd Precinct, in Harlem, was placed on modified duty until the Internal Affairs Bureau completes its investigation, the police said. Officials did not release his name, and a spokesman for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association did not return messages seeking comment. Three other officers assigned to the same precinct, including a sergeant, who were involved in the matter were not facing disciplinary action, according to the police.
In the video, which was posted online by NY1, the officer is seen leaving the lobby of an apartment building on Thursday evening and walking up to a man in a camouflage jacket who is holding up a cellphone. The officer suddenly punches the man, and they stumble before hitting the ground a few feet away.
The police identified the man the officer was seen punching as Jahnico Harvey, 19. Mr. Harvey was arrested and charged with menacing and disorderly conduct, and was issued a desk appearance ticket, officials said. Contact information for him was not available.
Earlier in the video, which was credited to a man named Calvin West, the officer and his partner are on the ground with a suspect under them. The officer pulls out a gun and points it at the cameraman, who appears to be several feet away.
“Move,” Mr. West told NY1 the officer said to him. “Get out of here. I’m not playing with you all. I’ll shoot.”
The police said the episode unfolded after two uniformed officers stopped a driver who had double-parked near 480 St. Nicholas Avenue in Central Harlem around 6:40 p.m. As the officers were conducting the stop, two men on dirt bikes encircled them, according to the police. When the officers turned their attention to the dirt bikes, the driver and his passenger fled on foot, as did the dirt bike riders, the police said.
