NYPD Called 'Provocative And Uncivilized' in "Village Voice"
By Esther Zuckerman Sat.,
Mar. 31 2012 at 5:24 PM
The NYPD's practices are once again being called into question, this time over the arrest of the ambassador of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It all centers around Gonsalves passing a police barrier Wednesday. According to a Reuters report, there's a case of he said, NYPD said, after another ambassador -- Delano Bart, of St. Kitts and Nevis -- called the police's actions "provocative and uncivilized" in a latter to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice. "On his way to the elevator, he was shouted at and confronted by a police officer, who rudely questioned his action and then grabbed him by the neck and shoulder, displaying undue physical harassment against the ambassador," Bart, also chairman of the U.N. caucus of the Caribbean nations group, wrote.
Bart described the events as a "very serious and flagrant violation of obligations under the United Nations Headquarters Agreement and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."
The NYPD, though, says that Gonsalves pushed aside the barriers -- meant as protection for the Israeli mission and consulate, also in Gonsalves' office building -- disregarding orders from a police officers, who told him not to do as such:
Gonsalves refused to stop or to identify himself. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and handcuffed near the elevators inside the building.
"He was subsequently identified and released at the scene," [NYPD spokesman] Paul Browne said.
Coming just a week after an Occupy Wall Street march against police brutality and in the midst of increasing criticism, we can't say this is good press for the NYPD.
Mar. 31 2012 at 5:24 PM
The NYPD's practices are once again being called into question, this time over the arrest of the ambassador of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It all centers around Gonsalves passing a police barrier Wednesday. According to a Reuters report, there's a case of he said, NYPD said, after another ambassador -- Delano Bart, of St. Kitts and Nevis -- called the police's actions "provocative and uncivilized" in a latter to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice. "On his way to the elevator, he was shouted at and confronted by a police officer, who rudely questioned his action and then grabbed him by the neck and shoulder, displaying undue physical harassment against the ambassador," Bart, also chairman of the U.N. caucus of the Caribbean nations group, wrote.
Bart described the events as a "very serious and flagrant violation of obligations under the United Nations Headquarters Agreement and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."
The NYPD, though, says that Gonsalves pushed aside the barriers -- meant as protection for the Israeli mission and consulate, also in Gonsalves' office building -- disregarding orders from a police officers, who told him not to do as such:
Gonsalves refused to stop or to identify himself. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and handcuffed near the elevators inside the building.
"He was subsequently identified and released at the scene," [NYPD spokesman] Paul Browne said.
Coming just a week after an Occupy Wall Street march against police brutality and in the midst of increasing criticism, we can't say this is good press for the NYPD.
posted by Karl Eklund at 9:23 PM
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