NYPD Union leader demands respect from public amid videos showing police brutality surface.
New York Police Benevolent Association president Mike O’Meara seemed worried that these videos are making officers look bad.
“We all read in the paper all week that in the Black community, mothers are worried about their children getting home from school without being killed by a cop,” he said.
“What world are we living in? That doesn’t happen. It does not happen!”
O’Meara then pointed at everybody and accused the public of shaming officers “into being embarrassed of our profession.”
He claimed that the New York officers’ handling of the recent protests is completely different from how the cops handled George Floyd’s arrest, which led to his death.
“You know what? This isn’t stained by someone in Minneapolis,” he continued. “It’s still got a shine on it, and so do theirs.”
O’Meara called Floyd’s death by Derek Chauvin’s actions “disgusting” and argued, “it’s not what police officers do. … He killed someone. We didn’t. We are restrained.”
His statement comes after a graphic video surfaced last week, showing a police in Buffalo, New York pushed over a 75-year-old protester and left him bleeding on the sidewalk.
The New York Police have been reported to employ aggressive tactics during the protests, which includes hitting peaceful protesters with batons, arresting journalists and assaulting essential workers.
“Stop treating us like animals and thugs, and start treating us with some respect!” O’Meara said. “That’s what we’re here today to say. We’ve been left out of the conversation. We’ve been vilified. It’s disgusting.”
Another union head stepped forward on Randalls Island, blaming lawmakers for igniting anti-police sentiment in the wake of Floyd’s death.
Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said, ““Never, no matter how bad it gets, apologize for having a shield in your pocket.”