New York, NY – On March 4, a dozen activists rallied across from the 79th New York Police Department Precinct building in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn to condemn the harassment and mistreatment of the Bed-Stuy community at the hands of the precinct cops. The protest also marked the launch of the New York Community Action Project’s (NYCAP) campaign to fire abusive cops across the city.

The rally began with the emcee welcoming everyone who had come out and leading the crowd in energetically chanting, “The violence needs to stop! Fire bad cops!”

Speaking on the racist and criminal behavior of the NYPD across New York City, Lee Dynes from NYCAP cited the NYPD’s own recently released use of force report, stating, “In 2021, in New York City, 95% of the people that cops shot at were Black or Latino. The NYPD brutalizes us and our communities, and it is only getting worse.”

As the protesters chanted and held signs calling out specific officers at the 79th Precinct with records of racist and oppressive violence, the rally immediately drew vocal support from the neighborhood, with pedestrians and drivers in nearby traffic sharing their own experiences with the 79th Precinct and accusing the officers there of being “crooks.”

Shivani Ishwar of NYCAP addressed the 79th Precinct specifically, which received 74 complaints against its officers in 2022 alone, stating,. “Over half of the complaints to this precinct are about corrupt cops using violence against the people of this neighborhood.”

Ishwar continued by naming specific officers with the most egregious records including Emilio Ortega, Larry Meyers and James Hart. All of the officers named continue to pull six-figure salaries from the city, despite the numerous complaints accusing them of abuse of authority, violence against the community, and use of racial slurs. As Ishwar named each officer, the crowd chanted “Fire abusive cops!”

Although this rally focused on the behavior of the 79th Precinct, racist violent behavior is standard practice across the NYPD. The final speech of the rally, from NYCAP member Anevay Zapata, described how “the NYPD gets away with literal murder,” but concluded by offering a path forward through NYCAP’s campaign for community control of the police. “New York is my home,” Zapata said, “and I know that we deserve better. We all know that we deserve better than to be terrorized in this police state. CPAC now!”

The New York Community Action project will be holding their next rally in celebration of International Women’s Day, to discuss the role that police play in the repression of women and reproductive rights. The speak out will be at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 11 at 3:00 p.m.

#NewYorkNY #PoliceBrutality #NewYorkCommunityActionProjectNYCAP #StopPoliceCrimes