Several protesters and eyewitnesses say an NYPD captain went too far in punching men and women during a pro-Palestine demonstration at the Brooklyn Museum over the weekend in assaults caught on camera.
According to those who witnessed the incident unfold, police were responding to a large gathering outside of the Brooklyn Museum on Friday evening, located at 200 Eastern Pkwy., that saw a slew of pro-Palestine protesters gain access to the building while others gathered on the street.
Tensions between responding officers and demonstrators reached a head after one woman was placed in cuffs. During the arrest, a captain of the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG), identified as Christopher Carlsen, was walking through the deluge of humanity when he was dosed with water.
Several videos from various angles showed Carlsen becoming enraged and throwing punches, some of which appeared to strike two female protesters. He then tackled a man to the ground and began punching him.
Steve Cruz, a photographer who captured the incident on camera, suggested Carlsen went too far.
“I saw the officer just grabbing people and punching people. Over what? Because they didn’t move to the sidewalk fast enough?” Cruz told amNewYork Metro. “Nobody should be beating and punching someone like that during an arrest.”
Cruz spends much of his time documenting police activity at protests throughout the city for his Instagram page dubbed exposing.dirty.cops.in.nyc_ and believes those assaulted did not initially throw water at Carlsen.
“Somebody threw water, it wasn’t them, it came from a different direction. He got pissed off and just started grabbing women and pounding on people,” Cruz recalled. “If you look at the video, you can see the water spitting and it didn’t come from them. It was retaliation.”
Others, however, claim that the cops arrived at the scene ready for a confrontation with protesters.
Photographer Chae Kihn told amNewYork Metro that she was spending some of her free time capturing images of the protest when police got on the scene.
“The police came in aggressive, I mean the amount of force they used was just unnecessary,” Kihn said. “The first guy that got arrested, he had blood dripping down his face. In what world, in what society do you need to arrest someone with that kind of force?”
The shutterbug also said that she has noticed an uptick in police aggression, especially in Brooklyn.
“They have a black eye in the press, they look horrible,” Kihn said. “They look horrible because of their tactics, it’s completely over the top.”
After reaching out to the NYPD for comment, a police spokesperson said that the individual arrested in the scuffle, a 26-year-old New Jersey resident, was booked on charges of assault with intent to cause serious physical injury, reckless endangerment, and resisting arrest. They did not elaborate further on the incident.
