A protester has been arrested for shoving an NYPD officer to the ground and trying to strangle him with a chain during protests in Lower Manhattan on Thursday night, according to the police.
The alleged incident took place in Greenwich village during clashes between police and demonstrators who were calling for every ballot to be counted in the still-undecided presidential election.
'Violence in Any Form is Unacceptable'
The NYPD tweeted a photo of the weapon along with the following caption:
"Tonight, while performing their duties near Bond St & Broadway in Manhattan, an officer was pushed to the ground & had this chain pressed against his throat. The suspect was apprehended & will be charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon & attempted strangulation."
"Violence – in any form – is unacceptable. We will be reviewing this incident, and bring any additional perpetrators to justice."
NYPD Arrested 56 People in Manhattan
The arrest was one of dozen others made on Thursday on the second night of demonstrations in the city, which have been criticized by as many as being "aggressive." However, the NYPD defended the arrests by saying that what started out as peaceful protests took a violent turn after being "hijacked" by a group of agitators armed with weapons.
The NYPD said the troublemakers came to the protests with plans to throw objects at police, start fires, break windows, and record arrests on camera in what the department described as anti-police propaganda.
According to police, the agitators assaulted officers, flashed lasers in their eyes, interrupted radio communications, and used bike scouts to monitor police movement to determine where they could block traffic with construction barriers. Some of the people arrested were repeat offenders, NYPD said. The department also tweeted out photos of the alleged weapons recovered from the protesters, including illegal fireworks, knives and stun guns among others.
The NYPD also criticized a woman, seen in video footage released by the department, spitting in the face of an officer during a confrontation on Wednesday night. The woman, identified as Devina Singh, was later arrested and charged with obstruction of governmental administration, violation of local law and harassment and given a desk appearance ticket.
The NYPD said it arrested a total of 56 people during the protests in Manhattan; 52 of those led to desk appearance tickets, while the remaining four were slapped with more serious charges, including assault.
