NYPD Officer Kneels On Queens Man's Neck During Arrest: Video

QUEENS, NY — An NYPD officer was recorded kneeling on a Black man's neck while arresting him after he was stopped for riding an all-terrain vehicle on the streets of Queens on Saturday, in an encounter that public defenders said evokes the police chokehold that led to the death of Minnesota man George Floyd last year.

A video posted to Twitter shows a trio of police officers pinning Sircarlyle Arnold to the ground on Sutphin Boulevard in South Jamaica, with one officer kneeling on Arnold's neck for at least 15 seconds as bystanders screamed for the officers to stop.

"Look at his knee," one bystander yelled repeatedly in the video.

"Take your knee off," another person screamed, as the officer continued to kneel on top of Arnold.

TW: This video shows NYPD officers kneeling on my client, Sircarlyle Arnold’s, neck in Queens, NY, while bystanders beg them to stop. This is eerily similar to what was done to George Floyd in May 2020 pic.twitter.com/5Tzxi6ShpT
— Olayemi, Esq. (@msolurin) January 6, 2021

His lawyer, Olayemi Olurin of the Legal Aid Society, told Patch that Arnold and a group of friends had been riding ATVs in remembrance of a friend who had died when the police stopped them.

Arnold stumbled off his bike and was immediately tackled by the officers, two of whom were not wearing masks, according to Olurin and the video.

"The moment he got off the bike, that's what happened," Olurin told Patch. "Everyone in the video immediately recognizes the George Floyd scenario."

Arnold was charged with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, reckless driving, driving on sidewalks and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.

NYPD Detective Denise Moroney, a police spokesperson, said in an emailed statement, "We are aware of the incident and it is under internal review."

Public defenders with the Legal Aid Society called the NYPD's behavior "eerily similar" to the chokehold that led to Floyd's death as Minneapolis police arrested him in May.

After Floyd's death, which set off nationwide protests of police brutality that disproportionately targets people of color, the New York City Council voted to criminalize chokeholds — which were already banned by the NYPD — as well as instances when police place their knee on a person's neck, as was the case in Floyd's death.

That legislation, which Mayor Bill de Blasio signed in July, criminalizes any police use of restricting air or blood flow.

"I don't want to hear excuses made from the NYPD for the NYPD — it's against the law," Olurin said of the arrest. "It shows the callousness and the disregard they have for Black and brown people."

Olurin and the Legal Aid Society are calling for the NYPD to fire the police officers involved in Arnold's arrest and for Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to drop the charges against him.

“We are aware of the allegations against NYPD officers in the case of People v. Sircarlyle Arnold," the Queens District Attorney's Office said in a statement Wednesday. "Our Public Corruption Bureau is in the process of reviewing all evidence in this case, including the officers’ body worn camera videos.”

In June, NYPD officer David Afanador was suspended by the department and charged with strangulation after he was recorded using a chokehold on a Black man while arresting him on the Rockaway Beach boardwalk.

A video of the Rockaway Beach arrest hit social media just a week after the City Council passed its bill criminalizing chokeholds and the state introduced criminal penalties for cases when a law enforcement officer uses a chokehold or a similar restraint that causes serious physical injury or death.