Video: Cops Attack Artist For Not Selling Art On Table, He Says

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — Cops punched an artist selling his work in Washington Square Park, wrapped their arms around his neck and refused to tell him why he was being arrested, video of the Sunday afternoon altercation shows. His offense, he says, was not having a table.

"I feel completely humiliated," painter Oriel Ceballos, 37, told Patch. "My civil rights were violated. As an educated person, I cannot let this just go under the rug."

Parks Enforcement Patrol officers surrounded Ceballos, of Jersey City, in the Greenwich Village park about 3:30 p.m. to issue a summons for selling his paintings on the ground in violation of Parks Department rules for art vendors, Ceballos said.

But instead of handing over the anticipated summons, as they had for the past three years, the officers grabbed Ceballos from behind and tried to handcuff him, Ceballos said.

Video shows several minutes of the artist trying to pull away from the officers and demanding to know why he was being arrested.

Instead, the Parks officers tell him not to resist and ignore Ceballos's pleas to wait for NYPD officers to come read him his rights, video shows. A Parks officer is seen in the footage hitting him in the side of the head.

When the cops come, they tackle Ceballos to the ground, the video shows.

One officer wraps his arms around Ceballos' neck as he calls out twice, "I can't breathe."

"I remember the pressure in my chest kept getting stronger and stronger and my breath kept getting shorter and shorter," Ceballos said. "My mentality is, 'These people are trying to hurt me.'"

Ceballos was ultimately arrested on charges of resisting arrest, attempted assault, harassment and criminal obstruction of blood circulation and breathing for wrapping his arm around a Park officer's throat, according to his criminal complaint.

The Manhattan District Attorney's complaint also accuses Ceballos of refusing to give identification, though Ceballos said he's been given summonses before without even being asked for ID. He's due in court next month. New York University's school paper Washington Square News first reported on his arrest.

Ceballos, whose official last name is Whyte, is a father of two who lives with family in Jersey City. He said became an artist after leaving an adjunct teaching position at Brooklyn College.

Artists have long been a mainstay feature of Washington Square Park — with crackdowns that have sparked fury among the artist community, such as last year when the iconic arch's "living statue" Johan Figueroa González was arrested for climbing on the arch after several performances.

The NYPD deferred to the Parks Department for comment, since Parks officers made the arrest.

The Parks Department says Ceballos has received eight summonses sense Aug. 25, 2018 and multiple 311 complaints.

"On the day in question, officers asked him for identification to issue another summons for violating parks regulations," Parks Department spokesperson Crystal Howard said. "He refused to provide identification and the officer attempted to arrest him. This individual resisted arrest and began to choke the officer."

PEP officers educate park goers and then issue summons, only in rare cases making arrests, the department says. That day, the department says PEP officers told him he couldn't display art on the ground or play music, leading to the tense altercation.

Ceballos plans to sue the Parks officers, he said. He is calling on artists to display their works in the park at noon on Saturday in a peaceful protest.

This article has been updated with Parks Department comment.