The dispute was over whether Williams was allowed to use a closed sidewalk. Williams was trying to exit the parade through the closed sidewalk to attend a gathering at the Brooklyn Museum, according to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. De Blasio’s aide, Kirsten John Foy, was also involved in the dispute.
Before their identities were established, Williams and Foy were stopped at the frozen zone near the Brooklyn Museum.
“A crowd formed and an unknown individual punched a police captain on the scene,” according to a statement issued by the NYPD. “In order to separate them from the crowd, Mr. Williams and Mr. Foy, who were handcuffed, were brought across the street and detained there until their identities were established and then released.”
No charges were filed, and police said that Williams and Foy were not arrested.
De Blasio was concerned that the police’s actions could be a wrong use of power. He learned from Foy that the two had been given permission to cross the frozen zone by a high-ranking police officer, according to the New York Times.
“I am very concerned that the officers escalated this situation needlessly, even as two public servants were trying to show identification,” he wrote in a statement. “I am calling for an investigation to get to the bottom of any police misconduct that occurred.”
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries arrived at the scene shortly after Williams and Foy were handcuffed and issued a statement saying that the arrest “is further evidence of the siege mentality the NYPD has unleashed against black men in New York City.”
William will address the incident at a press conference on Tuesday on the City Hall steps.
