Video After The Jump
The NYPD just released body cam footage of the minutes leading up to the chokehold out by Rockaway Sunday, and it's incredibly telling.
The face-off with officers actually started with three different men, two of whom were white, and they were all talking trash to the cops trying to understand why they were out there approaching them to begin with. The guy who ended up getting cuffed was among the group too, but he was the only one to get tackled and roughed up in the end.
It's not entirely clear why the cops decided to bum-rush him -- you hear in the body cam footage that one of the officers felt he "squared up" and got into a fighting stance, and apparently the cops felt threatened. It doesn't look like he did though from what we can tell.
In any case, after the police pounced ... one of the officers wrapped their arm around the guy's neck, which caused his buddies to scream in a panic. He was only held down for a few seconds, and it does not appear he lost consciousness during the ordeal.
You can also hear multiple people standing around and watching, openly asking why the black guy was the only one to get arrested -- when the other two guys (one in particular) was mouthing off just as much, if not more so. No clear answers for that one, but check it out for yourself.
The officer who was caught on camera applying a chokehold to a man he and other cops were trying to detain has now been suspended from the force ... and won't make a dime while he's out.
Source: TMZ
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