[Black Star Editorial]
The behavior seen on the video is acceptable to the NYPD which chose to give us moronic statements about “fighting stance”…If this is the way officers behave out in the public, just how do they behave when they are inside the precincts?
Photo: Instagram
NYPD Officer Francisco Garcia brutalizes Donni Wright then charged him with assault.
NYPD thuggery was fully on display in the East Village last Saturday.
The unprovoked criminal assault by NYPD Officer Francisco Garcia on 33-year-old Donni Wright was wrong by any standard. Apparently, even COVID-19 doesn’t stop police from terrorizing Black people.
Garcia should’ve been fired immediately. But, once again, we witness police lying to protect the criminal actions of a cop.
Reports say this incident started when police approached a group on 9th St. and Avenue D just after 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The group, allegedly, weren’t practicing social distancing. Police claim some in this group dispersed when they were told, but others refused to do so. Then, allegedly, police saw marijuana in open view and decided to make arrests. Police continue to find any excuse of arrest Black people and fulfill quotas.
Wright, who was a bystander, was watching. Police say they told Wright to leave but he refused. Videos of this incident suggest this is yet another lie.
In an absurd statement, police tried to justify Garcia’s reprehensible conduct by saying Wright “took a fighting stance.” Even if this was the truth, does this give Officer Garcia the right to assault someone who was not next to him when this fictitious “fighting stance” took place?
Garcia was the one who charged Wright. None of the videos show Wright assaulting anyone, although he was charged with assaulting an officer.
The police penchant for lying to protect criminal cops among their ranks discredits the institution of policing in general. Police can no longer tell us about “bad apples” when they are busy making up stories to defend the indefensible conduct of cops who abuse their power.
In a disturbing Instagram video, Officer Garcia, wearing plainclothes, was shown to be the one who decided he wanted to beat up somebody. Who better for police to beat up—and face little or no consequence—than a Black man?
On both videos, Officer Garcia is heard telling Wright “Move the fuck back right now… Don’t flex” not long before he proceeded to deliver a slapdown beatdown on Wright. Garcia’s “don’t flex” comment is an example of the brutish psychology most police have when they are dealing with Black people.
Police expect Black people to “know their place.” Blacks must never challenge them, even by talking back—only whites are allowed to do this. And it does not matter if police are violating Black people rights—because Black people have no rights police are bound to respect. If Blacks ever have the gall to talk back to them, they know they can use their “license to kill” to punish us and get away with it.
“Law and order” and “rule of law” politicians conveniently forget these slogans when the law-breaking violators are police, and the abused victims are Black.
On both videos, we see Garcia charging Wright; repeatedly slapping him; punching him in the face, as Wright lays face down, and another officer restrains Wright; Garcia then pins Wright to the ground by sitting on him. Obviously, this officer learned nothing from the Eric Garner and Freddie Gray cases, since Garcia is seen putting his knee into Wright’s neck.
At no time is Wright seen protesting in any way.
Wright was arrested and charged with assault on a police officer, menacing, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, and two counts of disorderly conduct. All of these accusations are obviously false charges. The charges, especially the assault charge, shows the deep dishonesty of these crooked cops.
Another bystander, Daquan Owens, filmed the assault committed by Officer Garcia. Owens said this: “The guy that just got slammed to the floor and punched, he was just standing there saying, ‘They didn’t do nothing,’ and actually they didn’t do nothing. Nothing was going on, nothing provoked the cop. He just got up, pulled his Taser out. The cop, I guess he was frustrated and took his frustration out on the guy.”
Owens is wrong about one thing here. Something did provoke Garcia. A Black man not obeying and kowtowing to this almighty officer.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, on Twitter, issued the typical weak statement saying, “Saw the video from the Lower East Side and was really disturbed by it. The officer involved has been placed on modified duty and an investigation has begun. The behavior I saw in that video is simply not acceptable.”
The behavior seen on the video is acceptable to the NYPD which chose to give us moronic statements about “fighting stance” in an attempt to justify Garcia’s brutal behavior. If this is the way officers behave out in the public, just how do these “peace officers” behave when they are inside the precincts?
If the NYPD had any credibility Officer Garcia would’ve already been fired.
According to the New York Daily News “Garcia has a history of being targeted in lawsuits resulting in settlements including being named in a claim that ended in a $120,000 settlement in 2016.”
They fact that these kinds of cops are retained tells us those who brutalized Blacks are welcomed in the NYPD.
Officer Garcia should be worrying plenty right now though. He isn’t white. And for public relations purposes, his termination for this unprovoked assault may well happen quickly.
Here is the Instagram video showing Officer Francisco Garcia assaulting Donni Wright https://www.instagram.com/p/B_u8SzPgVaG/?igshid=18fme6g0anvqm
