Unmasked NYPD Officers assault NYC Subway rider asking them to mask up @ 8th Street 10/19

[daybeers]

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/m...s-masked-man-out-of-manhattan-subway-station/


#Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect

 

[Bob Dylan]

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/m...s-masked-man-out-of-manhattan-subway-station/


#Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect

"Let them eat Cake!"

Not NYs Finest for Sure!

 

[adamj023]

The video doesn’t show both sides of what happened so there are unanswered questions. If cops were alone and not near the person who was walking by, the cops were in the right if the person just approached the cops for not wearing masks.

If he got off the train and cops were right next to him that would be a different issue. Wearing masks is really for when someone is in close proximity to another. We don’t need or want 100% enforcement where a train is empty and you go maskless and get fined or arrested. There has to be flexibility.

 

[daybeers]

The video doesn’t show both sides of what happened so there are unanswered questions. If cops were alone and not near the person who was walking by, the cops were in the right if the person just approached the cops for not wearing masks.

If he got off the train and cops were right next to him that would be a different issue. Wearing masks is really for when someone is in close proximity to another. We don’t need or want 100% enforcement where a train is empty and you go maskless and get fined or arrested. There has to be flexibility.

Ah, so because a customer asked the people they are paying to employ through fares and taxes to follow their own rules, they were wrong? And that makes it okay to assualt that customer by grabbing their shirt and shoving them? Hilarious. The announcements in stations and trains to wear a mask get annoying because they play so often. There's signage everywhere. It's in the MTA's twitter name.

"There has to be flexibility" really? Flexibility for who? Certainly not for MTA employees who wear their mask all shift, certainly not for the essential workers who used the subway during the "stay home to stop the spread" times. Certainly not for those immunocompromised, are they not allowed to be safe while traveling? Restaurants you can order takeout or delivery, same with groceries and lots of other items. But getting around? What's the alternative? And where has that flexibility gotten us in this pandemic?

It has been shown time and time again that the NYPD don't care about transit users, pedestrians, or bikers. If you can't see that, that's on you.

 

[joelkfla]

The video doesn’t show both sides of what happened so there are unanswered questions. If cops were alone and not near the person who was walking by, the cops were in the right if the person just approached the cops for not wearing masks.

If he got off the train and cops were right next to him that would be a different issue. Wearing masks is really for when someone is in close proximity to another. We don’t need or want 100% enforcement where a train is empty and you go maskless and get fined or arrested. There has to be flexibility.

I think the rule said they had to be masked when interfacing with the public. To me, that would include anytime they were out on the platform. If they want to take them off when they're in their squad car, or in some area not open to the public, that's fine.

 

[John Santos]

I don't know New York but it's hard to believe it's different from Boston where masks are required on all trains, buses, subways, and in all MBTA stations and any enclosed public spaces and anywhere you can't maintain a safe distance indoors or out. I hope someone got their badge numbers and reported them. I hope they get severely reprimanded if not fired and are forced to wear masks.

 

[Ryan]

The video doesn’t show both sides of what happened so there are unanswered questions. If cops were alone and not near the person who was walking by, the cops were in the right if the person just approached the cops for not wearing masks.

If he got off the train and cops were right next to him that would be a different issue. Wearing masks is really for when someone is in close proximity to another. We don’t need or want 100% enforcement where a train is empty and you go maskless and get fined or arrested. There has to be flexibility.

Yeah, no. That's not how any of this works. The mask mandate means "wear the damn mask".

 

[daybeers]

I hope they get severely reprimanded if not fired and are forced to wear masks.

hahahaha clearly you don't know the mafia that is the NYPD. But I agree.

 

[Asher]

Sounds like the old Bobby Fuller song.
I fought the law and the law won.

 

[me_little_me]

Truly sad when one sees the police acting like outlaws instead of upholding the law.

 

[cirdan]

Ah, so because a customer asked the people they are paying to employ through fares and taxes to follow their own rules, they were wrong? And that makes it okay to assualt that customer by grabbing their shirt and shoving them? Hilarious. The announcements in stations and trains to wear a mask get annoying because they play so often. There's signage everywhere. It's in the MTA's twitter name.

Lots of assumptions here.

Do we know that the officers grabbed the guy just because he politely asked them to put on a mask? Or had there been some longer altercation or escalation?

 

[me_little_me]

Lots of assumptions here.

Do we know that the officers grabbed the guy just because he politely asked them to put on a mask? Or had there been some longer altercation or escalation?

You mean the officers who violated city regulations on wearing masks? Had they been wearing masks as required or had they immediately put on their masks before an supposed longer altercation or before any escalation, there likely would have been a different outcome. Too many police officers contribute to the problem instead of calmly resolving it no matter how much in the wrong they are. I've seen it over and over again, even while volunteering with the local sheriff's department. They suffer from TGS - Tough Guy Syndrome.

Per nyc.gov: "All Police Officers, Detectives, Sergeants and Lieutenants regularly assigned to perform patrol duties throughout the city are equipped with body-worn cameras." So the body cameras should have told the complete story. But has NYPD made a statement that the body cameras they are supposed to be using show a different story?

 

[Barb Stout]

I don't think that being pushed out through an exit constitutes assault unless the push force knocked the person down, so the article title is a bit inflammatory, however, they definitely should have been wearing masks. Although I don't live in a place with subways, when the ones I have been in are not wide open spaces by any means. A lot of police are currently acting like bullies by threatening cities where they are attempting to implement vaccine mandates and since many people who are against vaccines are also against wearing masks, I wouldn't be surprised if these two are in the anti-mask/vaccine camp. But I do also agree that it can be difficult to understand someone speaking through a mask. Lots of lost consonants.

 

[Deni]

I don't think that being pushed out through an exit constitutes assault unless the push force knocked the person down, so the article title is a bit inflammatory, however, they definitely should have been wearing masks. Although I don't live in a place with subways, when the ones I have been in are not wide open spaces by any means. A lot of police are currently acting like bullies by threatening cities where they are attempting to implement vaccine mandates and since many people who are against vaccines are also against wearing masks, I wouldn't be surprised if these two are in the anti-mask/vaccine camp. But I do also agree that it can be difficult to understand someone speaking through a mask. Lots of lost consonants.

It doesn't have to result in a fall or injury for it to be assault. It's assault.

 

[Deni]

The video doesn’t show both sides of what happened so there are unanswered questions. If cops were alone and not near the person who was walking by, the cops were in the right if the person just approached the cops for not wearing masks.

If he got off the train and cops were right next to him that would be a different issue. Wearing masks is really for when someone is in close proximity to another. We don’t need or want 100% enforcement where a train is empty and you go maskless and get fined or arrested. There has to be flexibility.

No, everyone is supposed to wear masks while on trains and inside enclosed stations. AT. ALL. TIMES. That is the rule. The cops were not in the right in any part of this. Also, COVID can linger in the air in an enclosed space for quite a while depending on the ventilation. So yeah, being mask-less in an empty train car should result in a fine.

 

[cirdan]

You mean the officers who violated city regulations on wearing masks? Had they been wearing masks as required or had they immediately put on their masks before an supposed longer altercation or before any escalation, there likely would have been a different outcome. Too many police officers contribute to the problem instead of calmly resolving it no matter how much in the wrong they are. I've seen it over and over again, even while volunteering with the local sheriff's department. They suffer from TGS - Tough Guy Syndrome.

Per nyc.gov: "All Police Officers, Detectives, Sergeants and Lieutenants regularly assigned to perform patrol duties throughout the city are equipped with body-worn cameras." So the body cameras should have told the complete story. But has NYPD made a statement that the body cameras they are supposed to be using show a different story?

I think it may be a question of definition. I once saw a security guard take off a mask for something like 20 seconds to drink some water while being far away from anybody else and a woman went ballistic at him for not having a mask.

A lot of people have zero common sense. Combine that with a missionary zeal and a holier than thou attitude and a general feeling of all cops are evil and this is the sort of result that is possible.

As I said, we don't actually know as of present

 

[Ryan]

Actually, those of us that have watched the video do know.

These two hooligans give this guy the bum rush off of the platform, then go back to leaning against the wall making no effort whatsoever to put a mask back on.

 

[MARC Rider]

It doesn't have to result in a fall or injury for it to be assault. It's assault.

Heck, you can just accidentally **touch** somebody, and it can be considered "assault."

 

[jis]

Amazing how many apologists are around for the police who in this case were obviously in the wrong.

 

[me_little_me]

Heck, you can just accidentally **touch** somebody, and it can be considered "assault."

Moreover, it would appear that there can be two offenses if the officer lacked justification for what he did, assault and battery
Assault vs battery
and neither requires that a person be injured.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I don't think that being pushed out through an exit constitutes assault unless the push force knocked the person down, so the article title is a bit inflammatory,

Heck, you can just accidentally **touch** somebody, and it can be considered "assault."

Where I live pushing someone against their will would normally be considered assault but police enjoy qualified immunity which means they live by different set of rules on duty. Briefly touching someone by legitimate accident is not normally considered assault but it could still get you fired in an at-will state like mine.

*This is not legal advice and IANAL

 

[neroden]

I don't think that being pushed out through an exit constitutes assault unless the push force knocked the person down,

I checked NY Penal Law. NY state law definitions of crimes differ substantially from the common-law meanings of the words.

The criminal behavior of the dirty cops was, legally, "reckless endangerment in the second degree" (sec. 120.20) -- both their refusal to wear masks and their shoving -- which is a class A misdemeanor. 2 counts.

It was also, very clearly, "Official Misconduct" (sec 190.00), which is a class A misdemeanor. Again, 2 counts.

Also, I would charge them with "Criminal Nuisance in the Second Degree" (sec. 240.45) -- "by conduct either unlawful in itself or unreasonable under all the circumstances, he knowingly or recklessly creates or maintains a condition which endangers the safety or health of a considerable number of persons" -- class B misdemeanor.

Also, since two of them cooperated in the crime, it's "Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree", another class A misdemeanor.

There are probably others, I didn't go through the whole Penal Law. Anyway, class A misdemeanors are punishable by 364 days in prison and a fine of $1000.

Because there were basically 2 criminal acts (#1 the refusal to wear masks, risking spreading Covid; and #2 the shoving and physical attack), I believe the rule is that they only get two consecutive sentences (the sentences for the crimes which are basically the same criminal act are concurrent). So about 2 years in prison and about $2000 in fines for each of them, ***if the prosecutors did their job***, which prosecutors usually don't.

 

[Barb Stout]

Heck, you can just accidentally **touch** somebody, and it can be considered "assault."

Yeah, that's what I meant. I'm not sure what the legal definition of assault is; I was just stating my opinion as what a "normal" person might think when they hear the word assault. I think of being hit or pushed down. And then there's context. The same push force might knock certain people down, but not others or even most. Happily, this person did not get knocked down by the push force the police officer was exerting on him.

 

[basketmaker]

They are mandates - not law!

 

[Cal]

They are mandates - not law!

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the transit company is requiring all people to wear masks at indoor stations and on board trains. So they were required to, whether or not it's a law as they were on the premises.

Definition of mandate: "an official order or commission to do something."