120 people were arrested for social distancing offenses between March 16th and May 5th in NYC, 93% of them were Black and Hispanic. 40 of those arrests were made in Brooklyn alone, 39 of them were Black and Hispanic.
Multiple phone recordings have gone viral of police coming into poor black neighborhoods, approaching groups as small as two, beating them with batons, punching them in the face and tossing men, women and children to the ground, all in the same of social distancing.
This is a far cry to how police have responded to much larger groups of whites in higher income neighborhoods not wearing masks, gloves, or keeping any social distance orders what so ever. The following is a snapshot of the West Village the same exact day. This past Wednesday, bystanders caught police wrestling a 22 year woman, Kaleemah Rozier, (who was with her child), to the ground for wearing a mask around her neck, instead of around her mouth. The video went viral, and Mayor DeBlasio followed the violent encounter with news declaring police could no longer arrest New Yorkers for not having a mask. Police can still arrest groups of people that are larger than six or more. The Take Away Racial and economic biases are generationally instilled in our society. Fear of Blacks, Hispanics and poor neighborhoods motivate the average person, media and the policing of these neighborhoods. When petty laws give those officers (of every race) even more reason to enact their fears, stereotypes and survival training against these people, that’s exactly what happens – the people don’t survive. That’s how the first warm weekend of quarantine could produce eight police brutality cases in NYC, New Jersey and LA alone. Keep in mind, these are only the eight cases caught on cell phones that happened to go viral. Meanwhile, that subconscious threat profile doesn’t exist against whites and higher income neighborhoods. That’s how hundreds of people can all break social distancing together, without fear, policing or violence. Sermon 3 is compiling a list of all known police brutality incidences in the Corona Era. To fight back, we’re publishing a record of every video of police violence in the name of social distancing. We’re compiling this list to keep police accountable, and to serve as cases for those literally being beaten down without consequence. If you know of any incidences of police violence during COVID-19, send it to us via witness@sermon3recordings.com or social media DM and we’ll add to this list and re-blast every time. Let’s put pressure on them. Police Brutality Cases In The Name of Social Distancing
Police Brutality Heightens In The Name of Social Distancing
