'It's kidnapping!' NYPD defends Warrant Squad bundling protester into unmarked minivan as video sparks outrage
Amid the ongoing protests in the United States against police brutality, there seems to be an ongoing clash between the cops and the public. With outrageous violence on streets, a recent viral video shows NYPD's Warrant Squad officers arresting a woman at 2 Ave & 25 Street. The 41-second clip was shared on Twitter by Scott Hechinger and captioned: "This is terrifying. And here’s the thing: This happens everyday in Black & Brown communities. People feel incarcerated. Scared to walk outside. NYPD out in plain clothes. Unmarked vehicles. Homes raided. Stopped. Thrown in vans. 'Why are you arresting him!'"
No sooner did it make its way to the micro-blogging site, there were umpteen reactions and fury on the Internet. "What seriously, in the f**k is going on around here. At some point, the protesters are gonna really push back," one tweet read and another said, "This action seems absolutely designed to create outrage and encourage violent resistance. After the video Jim Jordan played this morning in the House Judiciary Committee it is obvious as to what Trump and Barr's strategy is..."
"I hope we can splatter their faces all over the internet so any time a future prospective employer googles them or runs a background check, the first thing to come up is that time they kidnapped a woman in broad daylight while pointing guns at unarmed people in the street," one tweet read and another said, "I see one, two, three, four kidnappers with completely visible faces abducting a woman in broad daylight and pointing weapons at unarmed people trying to stop them. I hope their faces become really, truly famous after this."
"Uh. That’s kidnapping ain’t it?" one said and another posted, "People think NY is a progressive city but it is not. It is a militarized city where only the wealthy are free." Another said, "Keep in mind, these kinds of displays of force and abuse of power is WHY the people are there protesting in the first place. This is why people loved Tony Soprano. At least he was honest about who he was and why he was doing it. Unlike 'police'."
Explaining the arrest, NYPD responded to the video and said, "In regard to a video on social media that took place at 2 Ave & 25 St, a woman taken into custody in an unmarked van was wanted for damaging police cameras during 5 separate criminal incidents in & around City Hall Park. The arresting officers were assaulted with rocks & bottles."
Their tweet further read, "When officers from the Warrant Squad took the woman into custody in a gray NYPD minivan this evening, they were assaulted with rocks and bottles. The Warrant Squad uses unmarked vehicles to effectively locate wanted suspects," and added, "When she was placed into the Warrant Squad's unmarked gray minivan, it was behind a cordon of NYPD bicycle cops in bright yellow and blue uniform shirts there to help effect the arrest."
However, it still sparked much rage on social media. "There is absolutely no justification for this excessive use of force. You’re snatching people off of the street and dragging them into unmarked cars. No information given as to where they’re being taken or why. This is such an abuse of power," one tweet read and another said, "If rocks and bottles scare ya maybe you should find another profession? If rocks and bottles are bad what about tear gas and batons and driving cars into a crowd? You wouldn’t be able to handle your own treatment of people."