Track #2: United Nations
May 18th 2021: Free Palestine
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Composed and produced by Michael Genese. Photo courtesy of Sean Waltrous.
On May 18, 2021, in Midtown Manhattan, protesters demonstrating for a free Palestine were met with unnecessary force from both Strategic Response Group and Counterterrorism officers.
“We should just f****ng hit ‘em with a stick and when they fall back and leave, call it a day.” “Yeah, that was the old days.”
Protest photographer Sean Waltrous was amongst the arrests. Waltrous, who had been live-streaming the demonstration to Instagram, was able to put his phone in his bag before being cuffed. The live-stream continued for nearly an hour, allowing viewers to overhear and record SRG officers chatting in the prisoner van.
In their conversation, officers can be heard trying to get their story straight to justify their arrests. They can also be heard reminiscing about the “old days” where they could “hit [protesters] with the stick” and “just call it a day.”
NYCLU protest monitors witnessed an SRG officer punching a protester in the face, and 14 demonstrators, most of which Palestinian youth, were brutally arrested.
We’re asking City Council to sign onto The CURB Act:
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Hundreds of New Yorkers are speaking up.
A campaign to disband the SRG is about making the real strategic decisions to give our communities the healing and resources they deserve.
Do you work in education or healthcare? Do you take public transit? Do you want to see your community thriving? We are all stakeholders in where the SRG’s millions of dollars go once they are disbanded. New York is worth fighting for, and we need you.
