A “Blue Lives Matter” rally to show support of the New York Police Department (NYPD) turned into an often chaotic and somewhat violent clash with Black Lives Matter (BLM) counter-protesters over the weekend in Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge with police in the middle trying to keep things from turning into an all-out riot.
And in the end, electeds and protesters from both sides blamed the other for being divisive in a city that is increasingly violent, chaotic and given to extreme political ideology.
The two sides kicked off their clashes at about 11 a.m., Saturday on 13th Avenue between 76 Street and Bay Ridge Parkway, where according to BLM protester A. J. Rock, a Bay Ridge resident, said a group approached her and others on the street that were peacefully protesting.
The mostly white men, who were counter-protesting in the name of ‘Blue Lives Matter’ for the Rally To Back The Blue, started yelling, hurling vulgar insults about her mother, and threatened to spit on her while another threw a hat at her for filming the incident, according to Rock.
Minutes later, several altercations broke out, which to their credit, said one BLM protester afterward, the police did step in to diffuse fairly quickly and then created a barrier of cops on bikes to keep the groups separated on opposite sides of the avenue.
BLM Brooklyn Branch President Anthony Beckford, also quickly stepped in with police to speak with some of the more visibly angry counter-protesters even among the chaos. The Back The Blue protester was upset about a string of burglaries along 5th Avenue, while Beckford reasoned that regardless the police still need to “clean their house” to put an end to the brutalization of Black people.
After that encounter, Beckford and the BLM protesters detoured up Bay Ridge Parkway towards 5th Avenue.
NYPD supporters then turned to pursue the group down Bay Ridge Parkway, with a small detail of cops walking in between them and riding alongside the street on bicycles. One or two cops said thank you to their backing demonstrators.
After a few blocks, the gaggle of NYPD supporters turned back at 11th Avenue. “Their job is to keep order,” said an NYPD supporter, a Dyker Heights native who identified himself only as D.T., in defense of the police.
He said no one is against or contesting what happened to George Floyd. “That cop was a bad apple that needed to be stoned,” he said about Floyd’s killer, former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. However, he and an associate standing with him, went on to say that the protocol is to not resist and that “all people” should not resist the cops when getting arrested.
Defunding the police in New York City is causing a separation in the neighborhood and people are “naive” to think a bankrupt city can do that successfully, said D.T. “They want to use Black people to get ahead, and it’s causing a problem,” said D.T about what he referred to as big politics.
The BLM group continued their march until they reached the corner of 5th Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway, where through their short speeches, a caravan of NYPD supporters drove by often yelling obscenities from their cars.
“I don’t think people are necessarily racist,” said Nicholas Vargas, a BLM protester from Bedford-Stuyvesant. “I think racism is more of a systemic structure that comes from capitalism and imperialism that’s reinforced through institutions.”
Vargas, paraphrasing a quote from famous Black Power writer Stokely Carmichael a.k.a Kwame Ture, said that “If an individual hates me because I’m Black, that’s their problem, but if someone who has the power to enforce racism, hates me because I’m Black, then that’s my problem,” which describes racism as a power struggle born of ideologies and class rather than attitude.
Meanwhile, as the BLM protesters headed to Bay Ridge, about 200 mainly local residents of Dyker Heights rallied on the corner of 86th Street and 13th Avenue in Dyker Heights to show support for the police.
The rally included Assemblywoman and Congressional candidate Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island) sporting a t-shirt with a picture of former U.S. President and former NYPD commissioner Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt.
“I’m here to support our NYPD. There are too many politicians that are spewing anti-police rhetoric and they need to know there are elected officials that have their back who will fight for them to have the tools they need to keep our city safe,” said Malliotakis.
Malliotakis said just like protesters have a right to occupy City Hall Park in a protest to defund the police, what’s beautiful about this country is the Blue Lives Matter rally also has the right to free speech and the right to assembly.
“I’ll say this. Little by little, they are chipping away at our freedoms. The very policies that my mother fled Cuba, they are being pushed by [U.S. Rep.] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others in this country. This is not only about supporting the NYPD, but restoring law and order to New York City and preserving America and its values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” said Malliotakis.
Also at Saturday’s pro-police rally was former State Sen. Marty Golden, Senatorial candidate Vito Bruno, New York State Conservative Party Chair Jerry Kassar, Brooklyn Conservative Party Chair President Fran Vella-Marrone, and a number of people running for city council in next year’s citywide elections.
The protests and counter-protests heatedly continued yesterday. The Back The Blue and Black Lives Matter protests began at separate locations. The BLM march started on 86th Street and 4 Avenue, and Blue Lives Matter started marching on 75th Street (Bay Ridge Parkway) and 4th Avenue. When BLM reached 75th Street and 4 Avenue, there was a barricade, and they were forced to turn on 75th Street.
At least one Black Lives Matter protester, a Black man, was caught on camera being tasered and handcuffed after running alongside and yelling at a police officer and being tackled by a separate officer.
After the NYPD removed the barricade and left the street, BLM protesters returned to 4th Avenue and continued marching towards 65th Street and 4th Avenue.
The two groups eventually met in front of the 68 Precinct, where a described riot broke out. Bottles of water were thrown and physical fights between disagreeing parties ensued with a line of police officers in between attempting to keep the peace.
Following the fracas over the weekend, State Senator Andrew Gounardes (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Gerritsen Beach, Manhattan Beach, Marine Park) had this to say last night, “A march was organized today under the guise of showing support for the NYPD, and some may well have come with that goal in mind – but in reality, it was a Conservative party rally designed to divide our community. This was clearly exposed when peaceful counter-protesters were met with people screaming at them, spitting in their faces giving them the middle finger and telling them to ‘go get raped’ or saying ‘Black lives don’t matter.’ I support our local police, but support is not shown by using them for a political pretext or by getting so aggressive that officers are forced to intervene to maintain public safety.”
Gounardes then went on to list all the members of the conservative party that organized the rally, and said, “It’s a disgrace that elected officials and party leaders were silent while supporters spewed hateful, sexist, and racist attacks at their neighbors. You are responsible for this. I call on you to denounce the ugly behavior that took place at the event you organized, and make it clear that it is never ok to threaten peaceful protesters with violence or rape.”
City Councilmember Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach) similarly denounced the hateful speech and violence he saw from counter-protesters that claimed to support law enforcement.
In a statement on Twitter he said, “It is no secret that our neighborhood doesn’t always agree politically, and that’s fine. But there are some things we cannot ‘agree to disagree’ on. Racism, xenophobia, sexism are not disagreements, but fundamental devaluing of human beings and neighbors.”
“Saying Black Lives Matter is not racist. It is not anti-white or anti-police. It does not imply hatred or violence against anyone. It’s about promoting equal justice and fairness. Most of our community understands that. It’s a shame that the Republican elected officials do not, and that they use this false dichotomy to drive a wedge through our community and foment fear, hatred, and anger among their own constituents for political gain,” said Brannan.
Bruno, who is challenging Gounardes in the November general election responded:
“First it is important to make clear that the murder of George Floyd was a despicable act and those responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Unfortunately, this tragedy has been hijacked by radical groups who want to abolish the New York City Police Department,” said Bruno.
“Today residents of Bay Ridge gathered to send a loud and clear message that we support the NYPD. We assembled and marched peacefully only to be met by Antifa thugs bent on starting a riot. It is only through the professionalism and dedication of the 68th Precinct that people were not seriously injured. Bay Ridge residents came to object to the vilification and vicious personal attacks against our New York City Police Department. It is our constitutionally protected right to express our opinions without fear of violence and thoughtless smears by politicians looking to scapegoat the police for their own failures,” he added.
Vella-Marrone, who besides being Brooklyn Conservative Party Chair has been president of the highly respected and nonpartisan Dyker Heights Civic Association since the 1990s, said the Conservative Party organized the Saturday event strictly as a show of support for the NYPD and not with any racial malice or any other agenda.
Vella-Marrone said she showed up on Sunday at the second protest to support the police again, but the Conservative Party did not organize Sunday’s gathering. She said she left before any violence started, but questioned how both Gounardes and Brannan could issue comments about the Conservative Party and label the pro-police rally as racist when neither elected official showed up to any of the rallies or protests in the heart of their districts.
KCP reached out to both Gounardes and Brannan as to the reasons they did not attend the rallies either in support of the NYPD or the BLM. They did not respond at post time.
