More on the George Floyd protests around NYC:

Transit advocates call out NYPD for ‘using 6,000-pound SUVs as weapons’

By Mark Hallum

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_1338"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-1338">A still of an NYPD cruiser moving through a crowd of demonstrators along Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn on May 30, 2020. (Video via Twitter/@clauirizarry)</figcaption></figure>

If the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis was not abhorrent enough to them, safe streets advocates found even more to dislike about Saturday night’s incident in Brooklyn of a police cruiser plowing through a crowd of protestors.

What Mayor Bill de Blasio inaccurately described as demonstrators surrounding the vehicle being “wrong on its face,” was inexcusable to Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives who each issued statements claiming police misconduct.

The incident caught on camera shows protestors behind barriers and in front of the vehicle on Flatbush Avenue. After objects such as traffic cones were hurled at the SUV, the officer behind the wheel hit the gas, plowing through people.

Although nobody was killed, it only enraged the demonstrators more.

This is sickening: pic.twitter.com/PNrrJQWTF1

— claudia irizarry aponte (@clauirizarry) May 31, 2020

Wtf!!! #BlacklivesMaters #brooklynprotest pic.twitter.com/S1oet8JC0x

— Pierre G. (@pgarapon) May 31, 2020

“We are deeply disturbed by videos showing NYPD officers driving SUVs into crowds of people during last night’s protest in Brooklyn. We demand a full investigation into these events, and for our mayor to hold those responsible accountable,” Families for Safe Streets co-founder Amy Cohen said. “Such brutal tactics, like using 6,000-pound SUVs as weapons against people, must be immediately rooted out of the NYPD by Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Shea. These actions are unacceptable and run counter to the very concept of street safety and Vision Zero that the NYPD is supposed to uphold.”

Though de Blasio said the actions of the officers may not have been in good judgment, he believes he may have taken whatever action he could out of desperation.

“It’s inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers. That’s wrong on its face and that hasn’t happened in the history of protest in this city,” de Blasio said. “I’ve been watching protests for decades. People don’t do that. And so, it’s clear that a different element has come into play here who are trying to hurt police officers and trying to damage their vehicles. And if a police officer is in that situation, they have to get out of that situation.”

Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris, however, argues that the power dynamic was not in the hand of demonstrators, but in the hands of cops who were using cars as a weapon.

“It is a shocking sight to see police, who are sworn to protect and serve us, using their vehicles as weapons against New Yorkers,” Harris said. “As people who have been seriously injured or lost a loved one due to traffic violence, we understand all too well the damage that multi-ton motorized vehicles can do. I have personally stood by the Mayor as he pledged to confront traffic violence while holding a photo of my 12-year-old son who was killed in a crash. We demand accountability, and we expect him to stand by that promise now.”

Sunday morning, de Blasio announced he would implement a review of all NYPD officers with Jim Johnson from Corporation Counsel and Margaret Garnett, commissioner of the city Department of Investigation.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered Attorney General Letitia James to investigate police conduct throughout the last several nights of rioting to ensure there was no foul play. He placed a 30-day deadline on the investigation.

Three charged in connection with Molotov cocktail attacks on NYPD during Brooklyn protests

By Joe Pantorno

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_1337"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-1337">A NYPD police car is set on fire as protesters clash with police during a march against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City,. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon</figcaption></figure>

Two Brooklyn residents and a Greene County resident were charged in connection with the use of Molotov cocktails — an improvised incendiary device — in an attempt to destroy NYPD vehicles during city-wide protests early Saturday morning.

Brooklyn residents Colinford Mattis, 32, and Urooj Rahman, 31, were arrested in a van early Saturday morning while allegedly in possession of explosive device components that included a lighter, a bottle filled with toilet paper, and “a liquid suspected to be gasoline,” per the US Department of Justice’s statement.

Their apprehension came just moments after Rahman threw a Molotov cocktail at an unoccupied NYPD vehicle near the 88th Precinct in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Samantha Shader, 27, of Catskill, NY, also allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD vehicle that contained four police officers.

Shader was caught on video by a witness igniting a Molotov cocktail and throwing it at the police vehicle in the vicinity of Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, shattering two of its windows. After she was apprehended by the officers, she admitted to the act.

<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_137503094"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-137503094">An image capturing Samantha Shader, 27, throwing a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD police vehicle. (Photo courtesy of US Attorney’s Office)</figcaption></figure>

“When you conduct a violent attack that breaks federal law, the FBI New York office, along with our NYPD and Department of Justice partners, will move with speed to hold you accountable,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge, William F. Sweeney Jr., said. “Behavior like the attacks charged here puts our entire community — protestors and first responders alike — in danger, and we will simply not allow it to go unaddressed.”

Mattis, Rahman, and Shader’s actions came while New York City — and the United States — is in the throes of unrest following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25.

The event, caught on video, sparked protests across the nation in major cities like Minneapolis, New York, and Los Angeles. Some of those demonstrations descended into clashes with local police.

If convicted, the trio faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.

“Molotov Cocktails are violent tools of individuals looking to inflict harm and

damage our city,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said. “Crimes like these are devastating to their targets and also to the protestors and

their right to free speech that police are working hard to protect… I’m confident that the severest penalties under the law

will be sought.”

All three defendants will make a virtual court appearance on Monday.

A tale of two leaders: Cuomo and de Blasio take different attitudes toward riots

By Mark Hallum

After an unusually volatile night in Brooklyn and Manhattan in which multiple police vehicles were torched by protestors and other shocking incidents, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed two key changes to policing on Sunday while generally giving cops the benefit of the doubt.

That was in stark contrast to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily press conference, which was a departure from delivering the usual COVID-19 figures – just 56 deaths on Saturday – as he put the focus to police violence in New York City the night before.

While acknowledging the “impossible situation” cops find themselves in once riots begin, Cuomo’s most scathing remarks were against brutality incidents that continue to create outrage in black and brown communities. He ordered a full review of the NYPD’s conduct in the riots Saturday night by Attorney General Letitia James with a 30-day deadline.

The demonstration was contentious and Cuomo said disturbing footage of a police SUV driving through a crowd on Flatbush Avenue and an officer pu