Man hurls milk at NYPD cop evacuating residents during fire, officers say assaults are making it 'impossible to do our job'
In yet another act of disrespect against a member of the force in New York, a protestor was seen hurling an open half-gallon of milk at a Bronx police officer and drenching him completely, in a video that surfaced September 6.
The cellphone footage, which was posted on Instagram with the caption "F— the [police emoticon]”, shows a bystander cheering the perpetrator and yelling "They got milked on!"
The assault is just one in a series of repeated attacks on the city's law enforcement in the past few months, the New York Post reports.
A number of videos surfaced over the summer showing people across the Big Apple attacking cops with buckets and bottles of water for simply the following protocol, even resulting in charges for several of the perpetrators.
According to the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), city leaders have created a "cop-hating" environment, thereby causing such brazen acts.
“It is becoming impossible for police officers to do our job, even in emergency situations,” PBA president Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement on September 5. “At a fire scene, our role is to clear the area so that firefighters can contain the fire and prevent loss of life. This crowd didn’t care: They wanted to fight the cops who were there to help.”
According to the NYPD, the milk incident occurred around 5 pm on September 3 after cops responded to a fire on the 6th floor of an apartment building at 1454 Grand Concourse and were evacuating people.
The 2-alarm inferno left seven people injured, including two officers and an FDNY member, before firefighters arrived at the scene and joined hands with law enforcement to rescue inhabitants.
But police said a crowd of residents, who had been instructed to evacuate, reportedly became rowdy shortly after being rescued and one of them struck an officer with the milk container.
The video shows the perpetrator throwing the container at a male officer, who gets doused in the liquid despite quickly ducking out of the way. Despite the cowardly attack, the cop can be seen stoically staring back at the camera while completely drenched in milk.
The man was chased by officers but somehow managed to give them the slip. As per the latest reports, he is still being sought by authorities.
Officials reported at least four residents were injured in the fire. Furthermore, seventeen families had to be moved temporarily and several others were arrested as they protested against their rescuers.
Other attacks on law enforcement included a woman ripping off an officer's body camera, while two others were taken into custody for disorderly conduct.
Having said that, there were no serious injuries reported. “Thankfully everybody made it out this time,” Lynch said, “but our city leaders need to wake up. If they keep encouraging cop-hatred and interference with our duties, lives will be lost because we were prevented from doing our job.”