Dounya Zayer Demands Of AG: 'Where Was The Good Cop To Help Me?'

NEW YORK CITY — The young woman thrown into seizures when an NYPD officer shoved her to the ground during a police brutality protest doesn't want to hear that there are good cops, not even when it's Attorney General Letitia James trying to assure her it's true.

"Where was the good cop to help me?" Dounya Zayer demanded of James. "Where was the good cop to help George Floyd?"

Zayer testified Wednesday during the attorney general's public hearing on police behavior during the New York protests, spurred by Floyd's death under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

More than 1,000 people logged on to hear witnesses accuse NYPD officers of attacking peaceful protesters, covering their badge numbers and harassing essential workers who had permission to break New York City's curfew.

Zayer cried as she described her encounter with since-suspended Officer Vincent D'Andraia, which she says has left her with ongoing physical pain — migraines, nausea and insomnia among them — and a fear of police so intense that she is no longer able to leave the house.

Video of the encounter went viral days after the May 31 protest near the Barclay's Center, which Zayer said she was trying to record when D'Andraia rushed toward her.

Zayer's testimony was backed up by South Brooklyn Mutual Aid organizer Whitney Hu, who told the Attorney General she witnessed D'Andraia attack the young woman because "he was angry and she was an easy target."

Hu and other protesters rushed to help Zayer to her feet and nearby stairwell, where Zayer says her memory goes blank and Hu testified she began to convulse.

Hu and the other protesters screams for help were ignored until an FDNY firefighter arrived to help stabilize Zayer and get her to a paramedic, the activist testified.

In days that followed, Hu continued to attend rallies and attempted to administer aid to protesters maced and hit by NYPD batons, many of whom were under the age of 18, she said.

Among those Hu helped, during a Flatbush protest on June 1, was a weeping 14-year-old girl she found kneeling in the street as officers barreled toward her, Hu testified.

Hu said she dove between cars to pull the teen away moments before an officer tried to pull the girl away from Hu.

"I held her as she cried,"said Hu. "It felt like warfare."

James, joined by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and The Policing Project Director Barry Friedman, also heard testimony from New Yorkers who wanted to show support for police officers tasked with maintaining the peace in a historic time.

"It's our police officers' jobs to maintain law and order," said John, of Buffalo, who testified by phone.

"I'm not going to justify the abuse of police officers."