NYPD officer seen making outrageous white power 'OK' symbol and laughing amid George Floyd death protests
The New York Police Department is currently investigating a video where one of its officers was accused of making a white power symbol while gesturing with his hands during a George Floyd protest.
The video in question was posted on Instagram by China Mac, a rapper whose real name is Raymond Yu. In the clip, an officer was seen making the "OK" sign with his index finger touching his thumb to form a circle while the rest of his fingers remained outstretched. While the hand gesture might have meant nothing more than to suggest something along the lines of 'alright', the same sign has been recently used to represent the letters w and p to signify "white power," originating from a hoax in 2017 by members of the website 4chan, an anonymous online message board, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Since then the symbol has been used by white supremacists as “a sincere expression of white supremacy,” as it expanded beyond “trolling tactics."
During a protest demonstration at New York City's Union Square on Saturday, May 30, the rapper Mac was recording on his camera while on the protest when the officer made what appeared to be the gesture into the camera sight. “So there’s a viral clip going around of white officers throwing up the ‘White Power’ sign,” Mac captioned the Instagram post, according to NBC. “I was taking a picture for my YouTube live thumbnail, and the two officers photobombed it throwing up their signs. What do y’all think about that?”
Another person standing nearby also recorded the incident and forwarded a copy of the video to NBC. The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said that he had attended the demonstration to document it. The officer who makes the controversial hand gesture follows it up with a laugh with another officer beside him. The man who recorded the video opined that officer made the gesture "to communicate white power and to say, 'We're going to win at the end.'"
After Twitter users flagged the video to the police department, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, urged witnesses of the incident to submit complaints and copy of the video to the office of the Attorney General so that she could start the process of looking into the matter.
On Saturday, May 30, James added that she be reviewing actions by the NYPD and protesters during demonstrations. “Peaceful protest is a basic civil right,” James said in a statement. “That right should be protected and guarded. We take the designation to investigate last night’s actions very seriously. We will act independently to seek answers, ensure that the truth is laid bare, and that there is accountability for any wrongdoing.”
She reiterated her stance in a tweet on Monday, June 1. "I want New Yorkers to know that I take my role to investigate the events of this weekend very seriously. I promise you a swift investigation with all of the facts," she said.