A sizable number of uniformed police officers were seen on cellphone video getting berated with racist, vulgar threats and taunts by males on a New York City sidewalk last week — and the cops walked away, reportedly over fear of disciplinary action if they further engaged their adversaries.
At the start of the clip — shot in Washington Heights Friday, the New York Post reported — a white officer smiled while telling the group, “I didn’t pull out my gun."
Image source: Twitter video screenshot
“But you was about to,” two of the males replied, almost in unison.
"No, I wasn't," the officer explained.
“You felt threatened because he’s black,” another male added as another asked, “Did you feel threatened because he’s behind you?”
“All right. OK,” the officer replied while turning away.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot
The officer's retreat apparently emboldened the males to step up their aspersions.
“Get the f*** out of here, bro!” one of the males shouted.
“This is why you guys live here like this,” the cop observed as he peered into the cellphone camera.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot
“Live here like what?” one of the males replied.
“You see the address. You come back later, p***y!” a male yelled at the officer.
“I’m right here,” the officer barked back, holding his arms out.
“So take the badge off!” one of the males said.
“You want tough, you do it now,” the officer challenged his taunters.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot
“Take the badge off! Take the badge off! Take the badge off!” several males yelled at once.
The taunts were followed by at least one threat: “I will beat the s**t out of you!” one of the males yelled.
“Suck my d*** then get the f*** out of here! Goodbye!” another male shouted.
The officer wasn't having it, replying, “Go suck your own d***. Bye." The group of officers continued walking away.
Getting away with a threat apparently wasn't enough to satisfy the little sidewalk mob, as one of the males called an Asian officer in the group "Jackie Chan." There also appeared to be other cops of color in the group of what appeared to be eight officers.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot
But hey, props to the cop taunters for demonstrating a wider vocabulary — they also shouted the N-word, “c***suckers” and “f***ing pigs.”
Here's the video. (Content warning: Language, naturally):
The context of the incident isn't clear since the video doesn't show what transpired before the police officers decided to walk away.
Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins told the Post he knows about the incident and that it proves police officers are concerned about disciplinary action and the Civilian Complaint Review Board should they engage further with hostile people.
“I spoke to several cops and they didn’t want to get involved in anything or take any police action because they felt if they did the department would go against them,” Mullins told the paper.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot
(H/T: Blue Lives Matter)
