Hundreds of New Yorkers were arrested on Tuesday, June 2nd after heading to the streets to protest systematic racism and policing.
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, people and activists nationwide have organized demonstrations to protest the killing of an unarmed black man killed by Minneapolis police. Included in a large number of demonstrations was a peaceful protest at 5 pm on June 2nd outside of New York City’s Stonewall Inn, the site of the uprising against a police raid in June 1969. Just about 51 years later.
At the protest, demonstrators held a vigil to mourn the loss of Tony McDade, a black trans man fatally shot by police in Tallahassee, Florida, along with other black queer folks who have been killed by police.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with governments all across the country, implemented a curfew beginning at 8 pm each night and lasting until 5 am the next morning. The intent was to keep activists and protestors off the streets. With Stonewall aside, actions ran the gamut across the cities five boroughs, including other protests like the one in Downtown Brooklyn, lower Manhattan, and the Upper East Side, where demonstrators matched towards the mayor’s place of residence in Gracie Mansion, according to Logo.
Some protestors were trapped on the Manhattan Bridge after the implemented curfew, to which the police blocked them from entering the city of Manhattan and forced them to go back into Brooklyn in what is said to be a lengthy and tense standoff.
Actions across the city ended in violence from the police force for many demonstrators, including drag queen and The Marti Report host Marti Gould Cummings, who was arrested and “never told rights”.
“Just got out of jail. Was arrested at 8:15. Released 7:20. Denied phone call. Never told rights. In cuffs for four hours. No clean masks. Most cops not wearing masks. I’ll be donating $500 to bail fund to help others today,” tweeted Cummings.
ACT UP NYC facilitator and social media manager Jason Rosenberg suffered a broken arm and needed nine staples in the head after being beaten by the police.
“We were peaceful,” Rosenberg tweeted. “We linked our arms in civil disobedience, not resisting arrest. We were beaten. Fuck anyone who tries to say otherwise. Tony McDade, you were not murdered in cold blood by the police in [vain].”
On the morning of June 3rd, the Legal Aid Society estimates that “roughly 400 New Yorkers citywide” have been languishing in detention centers for over 24 hours, a violation of the city’s 24-hour arrest-to-arraignment laws.
Legal Aid has filed a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department demanding detainees be released, according to The City.
In total, more than 2,000 New Yorkers have been arrested at anti-police brutality protests over the past six-days,
