NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea made an impassioned plea to stop the violence on cops — and apologized for any improper acts of aggression by officers — as protests over the death of George Floyd stretch into the eighth day and Gotham still reels from the coronavirus pandemic.
“How the hell did we get here in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a week of meaningful, meaningful protest?” Shea said at a live-streamed press conference Thursday evening. “Violence has been used multiple times during what could have been and what should have been peaceful protests.”
“Violence poisons the well of democracy. It has done so at a time when we so desperately need civil discourse about issues that all of us, black, white — all of us that we care so much about.”
The city’s top cop conceded that while “most of my offices have acted with extreme professionalism” — officers will face consequences if they acted inappropriately.
“I can tell you that, without a doubt, without a doubt, there will probably be a couple of officers suspended as a result of those actions that don’t make me happy,” Shea said.
“We are not perfect. So I am sorry … for our part in the damage to civility, our part and racial bias in excessive force, unacceptable behavior, unacceptable language, many other mistakes. We are you.”
“I am sorry. Are you? So how do we move forward?”
Three officers were injured — one stabbed in the neck and two shot in their hands overnight — in what authorities are probing as a terror-inspired attack on a cop.
Police have clashed with protestors over the last week during the citywide rallies — leading to a month’s worth of complaints of police misconduct in five days and a series of shocking videos.
Dramatic videos have also captured a number of police officers being attacked with bricks, a garbage can and a fire extinguisher in separate incidents.
It was still unclear, however, which of those acts of violence were carried out by protestors or outside agitators, who are using the rallies as a cover to loot and create chaos.
Overnight, nearly 200 protestors were arrested overnight as cops cracked down on the 8 p.m. curfew.