TikTok footage shows the forcible arrest of a pro-Palestine protestor in NYC earlier this week. The footage, shared Wednesday, shows half a dozen officers grabbing a protestor, picking them up, and hauling them to a police van like a piece of luggage. It’s far from the first act of law enforcement violence to occur under Donald Trump, and it won’t be the last. For every high-profile abduction, like those of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, many disappearances go unreported. In Somerville, the culprits were masked ICE agents. In New York, it’s the NYPD. The government is cracking down on the public square and college campuses alike, making this kind of police violence all too common.
Cops Forcibly Arrest NYC Protestor
Those deported to El Salvadore aren’t the only ones to experience harm under the Trump administration. In a TikTok by abdelati10999m, half a dozen officers can be seen grabbing a pro-Palestine protestor. The cops then appear to pick the person up and carry them by the limbs to a waiting police van. One witness can be heard above the clamor, saying, “What are you doing?” as officers swarm and restrain the protestor. It would be a disturbing sight even if the footage of Rumeysa Ozturk’s abduction weren’t so fresh.
This week, New York joined cities across the U.S. in protesting Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The arrest of this NYC protestor is yet another example of cops protecting and serving property over people. The U.S. government has moved to classify vandalism against Tesla as terrorism, even as it uses secret police to abduct innocent people. Unfortunately, being hypocritical never stopped fascists before. Doing so has always required direct action. By taking to the streets, New Yorkers are proving that they’re down for the cause if that’s what it takes.
