A city councilman was arrested Sunday following a scuffle with cops on the sidelines of the West Indian Day Parade, a staff member said.
Jumaane Williams was arrested around 1:30 p.m. along with a member of Public Advocate Bill De Blasio’s staff as they walked along a street near the Brooklyn Museum and were stopped by police.
“We had been given permission by a higher-ranking officer to walk on the sidewalk,” said Williams spokesman Stefan Ringel. “But when we headed up the street, the councilmember was stopped by three officers.”
“He showed his council badge and explained who he was but the police officer was not listening and began speaking to him in higher tones,” Ringel said. “The speech got a bit disrespectful.”
Ringel said a group of about 15-20 officers quickly surrounded Williams and his party and the altercation turned physical.
“At no point did they lay hands on the police officer, but the officers began to lay hands on them,” Ringel said. “The staff member for the public advocate was tripped and pushed to the ground and both he the councilmember were arrested.”
Both were taken to the nearby Union Temple of Brooklyn, Ringel said.
The altercation came during a joyous celebration of island pride as tens of thousands of revelers gathered to celebrate the West Indian Day parade.
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3 Responses
Why was he arrested?
Williams is such a mentch. I find it impossible to believe that he was justifiably arrested.
NYPD needs to retrain their cops. They’re great when it comes to giving tickets and all sorts of things that make good money for the city but when it comes to REAL policing they have no clue!