NYPD officers arrested two people and injured several others during a violent confrontation with protesters occupying City Hall Park on Tuesday morning, hours before a historic vote on the city's budget is set to take place.
At around 5 a.m., dozens of cops in riot gear encircled the group and began removing barricades that protesters had placed in the street on the north side of the encampment. As the group retreated to the sidewalk, police followed, pushing people back and striking them with batons, protesters said.
“We were dancing in the street one minute, and the next minute they were beating the shit out of us,” said Jet, a 23-year-old activist who declined to give their last name. “It wasn’t human.”
Another protester, who goes by Lip, described cops playing a game of "human tug of war" with those at the front of the police line. He said that he witnessed a girl break her leg in a barrier, as cops pinned protesters on top of each other.
"They were beating me every way they could, but all I could see was her leg bent in a way it shouldn’t have been," he told Gothamist/WNYC on Tuesday morning.
The altercation marked the most intense show of force from police since protesters began occupying the sidewalk next to City Hall last week, demanding that $1 billion be cut from the NYPD's budget and allocated toward social services. On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he would support $1 billion in cuts to the department — though activists and some city councilmembers insist that number is based on misleading budget tricks.
Protesters said they intend to continue occupying City Hall through at least Tuesday — and fully expect further confrontations with cops.
"I’ve been here almost every night...this is an escalation," said Julian Hill, a 34-year-old organizer. "It definitely was the most aggressive I’ve seen. It seemed pretty unnecessary given where things are at."
An NYPD spokesperson said that an 18-year-old was arrested for spray-painting a statue just north of City Hall. He was charged with making graffiti, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, criminal tampering and disorderly conduct.
A second individual, 20-year-old Joseph Konnaris, allegedly struck a police officer and was charged with assault, menacing, disorderly conduct, and harassment. Witnesses, however, claimed that police attacked Konnaris after he called a cop a "pussy."
"That officer pushed him and tried to hit him with the baton, so he grabbed the baton," said Joseph Brown, an organizer with Street Riders NYC, who described Konnaris as a friend. "After he grabbed the baton a lot of officers started pouncing on him."
Video shows Konnaris appearing to faint as he is dragged away by police.
"I’m kind of shocked," Brown added. "I didn’t think the police would mobilize the way they did. A lot of us got hurt."
