Unruly pro-Palestinian protesters must face charges to ‘screw them up’ if they keep getting busted, ex-NYPD Commish Bill Bratton says
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said police need to hit unruly anti-Israel protesters with criminal charges that would “screw them up for the rest of their damn lives” if they keep acting up as he slammed the city for ending a crowd control practice that he believes has handicapped cops.
Bratton, who served as top cop in the Big Apple for two stints, issued a scathing assessment Wednesday on how the city has handled “selfish” protesters when rallies have gotten out of control over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“You need to get back to arresting these people on criminal violations, charging them criminally and if they keep acting up then they have criminal records that will screw them up for the rest of their damn lives,” Bratton said on the Cats & Cosby Show on WABC 770 AM.
He slammed city and state leaders for widely excusing the alleged poor behavior of the protesters where “nothing happens to them” and stripping cops of the tools to deal with volatile demonstrators.
“Police arrive, disperse them, detain some of them, and they’re immediately let go,” he told host John Catsimatidis.
Bratton said the NYPD should not have agreed this fall to end the crowd control measure known as “kettling,” when police would pen in protesters then arrest them.
The deal was part of a settlement between the police force and NY Attorney General Letitia James and other groups following lawsuits spurred by alleged police misconduct during the 2020 George Floyd protests.
“That settlement should never have been signed,” he said. “They are continuing to restrict the ability of the police to enforce the law.”
Mayor Eric Adams also called the September settlement “troubling” this week and believes it has made officers hesitant when dealing with unruly protests.
While it was signed under his administration, he claims the city might have been stuck with a worse deal.
Anti-Israel protests have been an ongoing trend in the city as Israel continues its relentless military campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on the Jewish nation.
A few scuffles broke out between demonstrators and cops on Christmas Day during a large-scale protest in Midtown and on Wednesday more than two dozen people were taken into custody by Port Authority police for blocking an expressway leading to JFK Airport. They were later let go on desk appearance tickets, which Bratton panned.
“The selfishness of these demonstrators — and this is what we’re talking about: selfishness,” Bratton said on the Cats & Cosby Show. “It’s all about them. It’s not about you or I. It’s not about what’s going on in Israel or the Palestinians.
“It’s all about them that a lot of the same cast of characters that turned up at Black Lives Matter demonstrations … they live for this stuff. They could care less about the cause. It’s all about them — their ability to exhibit power.”
The protesters are demanding a cease-fire as Israeli air strikes have killed more than 20,000 people in the Palestinian territory, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Bratton served as police commissioner under former mayor Rudy Giuliani and then again under former mayor Bill de Blasio before stepping down in 2016.
