Councilman Jumaane D. Williams and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s aide Kirsten John Foy engaged in a dispute with police officers stationed at the parade when the two tried to cross a frozen zone to get to a gathering at the Brooklyn Museum.
Williams and Foy were handcuffed and detained until their identities were established. According to the two public servants, they had tried to show their identification badges and had been given permission to enter the zone by a high-ranking officer earlier.
Williams held a press conference on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday denouncing the police officers that handled the situation. Many officials were present in support. He emphasized that the incident was a sign that racial bias is still present in the city.
“Young black males are treated differently repeatedly, on a repeated basis,” he said at the conference. “It happened to myself, an elected official and it happened to Mr. Foy, who is a high-ranking aide to a citywide elected official, [so] please imagine what is happening to young Latino and black males every single day,” said Williams. “I believe that if we were white elected officials, this would not have happened.”
Williams, a strong opposer of stop-and-frisk, said that last month he was stopped by an officer who wanted to make sure that he was the owner of the car he was driving.
“The commissioner will say that he does not want people to take the actions of a few bad police officers and take that to mean that [all] police officers are bad. We will ask the same. Do not take the actions of a few bad black and Latino young men to mean that all black and Latino young men are bad.”
While acknowledging that most NYPD are upright and responsible, Williams demanded that the group of officers who disregarded racial equality to be reprimanded.
“We have to get this problem fixed, or it will only escalate,” he said.
Foy, who had fought against racism and police brutality even before becoming an aide, said that he was shoved to the ground and one officer told him “It’s over, you’re done,” when he tried to identify himself.
He mentioned a circulated video of the arrest that showed the officers’ aggressiveness toward him. He said the police officers told him that he was not being compliant enough.
“When we cannot count on the NYPD to hold the line between us and chaos, society itself will unravel,” he said.
Foy does not blame the officer who attacked him, but instead criticized “white-shirt” officials and requested an apology.
“It was the white shirt that set the tone, that allowed his subordinate officers to believe it was ok to attack two African-American males who happen to have dedicated their lives [to the city] …who allowed his officers to aggressively pursue us in light of us just trying to engage in dialogue,” said Foy. “I’m waiting for that officer to apologize.”
He added that his goal was not blame one officer, but to make changes to policies.
The NYPD issued a statement saying that officers handcuffed Williams and Foy in order to separate them from the crowd and that they were not arrested. They also stated, “An unknown individual punched a police captain on the scene.”
Both public servants say that that the aggressiveness was one-sided and that the police are lying about the punch.
In response, the NYPD issued another statement clarifying that the statement did not imply that either Williams or Foy punched an officer, but “the fact remains that Capt. Charles Girvan, the executive officer of the 68th Precinct, reported being struck in the right side of the face by an unknown assailant.”
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly has met with Williams and Foy, and is conducting an investigation of the case.
“Yesterday’s occurrence must be thoroughly and immediately investigated, and I thank Commissioner Kelly for doing so,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was present at the conference.
