NEWS

Police Brutality Heightens In The Name of Social Distancing

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.

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Dear @NYCMayor & @NYPD,⁣ ⁣ Answer this for me. ⁣ ⁣ This picture is from the West Village in Manhattan yesterday. Was taken by my friend @welcome2thebronx. No social distancing. No masks. No gloves. Nothing. CROWDED AS HELL. ⁣ ⁣ But super white. Why are your goons not going in there and brutalizing people, punching them, choking them, tasering them, handcuffing and arresting them, and sending THESE PEOPLE to Rikers????⁣ ⁣ Answer me that. ⁣ ⁣ Instead you send your goons like Officer Garcia, Badge #19234, to Black neighborhoods to brutalize and arrest BLACK KIDS AND YOUNG ADULTS who are just sitting outside for some fresh air. ⁣Same city. Other side of town. ⁣ 3-4 Black people congregate and you brutalize and arrest them and send them to Rikers where they might actually die and will be super likely to catch the virus. ⁣ ⁣ HUNDREDS of white people do the same thing, and crickets. You do nothing. It’s like they are in a different fucking country. They might as well be. ⁣ ⁣ @NYCMayor – you ran for office saying you’d be different and said you wouldn’t stand for this shit. You stand for it. You protect it. You defend it. ⁣ ⁣ @NYPD – you are genocidal. That’s what this is. It’s genocide. It’s apartheid. It’s one violent, brutal reality for Black people and one cheerful clean reality for white people. That’s apartheid. ⁣ ⁣ Fuck you both. And I say that on a Sunday when Lord knows I try to be focused and centered, but you are pushing us and trying us. And it’s not going to last. Follow @grassrootslaw

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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

May 3rd, Brooklyn. Two Kids, Non Violent, In Their Neighborhood, Assaulted by Police
May 3rd, Brooklyn. A Young Man Tries to Help and Is Immediately Punched in The Face
May 3rd, Brooklyn. Cop Chokes and Body Slams Man on Ground as People Come Outside To Enjoy The Weather
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@jersey_nyc_copwatch

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May 5th, Brooklyn. Police Wrestle, Harass and Punch Kids For Not Having a Mask
May 5th, Bronx. Police Pepper Spray a Funeral
May 5th, LA. Officer Repeatedly Assaults and Punches Non-Combative Man In The Face
May 6th, Jersey City. A Man is Pinned to the Ground By a Cop and Repeatedly Battered with a Baton By Another Cop
May 6th Brooklyn. Two Officers Punch Two Separate Men In The Face For Not Being Far Enough Back

May 13th, Brooklyn. Police Wrestle Woman to The Ground For Having Mask Around Her Neck

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