The NYPD officer caught on video cursing at a female protester and shoving her to the ground outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn is facing criminal charges.
The officer, Vincent D'Andraia of Brooklyn's 73rd Precinct, turned himself in to the District Attorney's office Tuesday morning. He is being charged with assault, criminal mischief, harassment and menacing.
The incident in question occurred on May 29 during a demonstration against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death.
Video captures the officer break from a larger group of cops to shove 20-year-old Dounya Zayer to the street. She can be seen hitting her head on or near the curb, as the group of officers walks away.
She was hospitalized after reportedly suffering seizures and sustaining a concussion.
The head of the Police Benevolent Association, Patrick J. Lunch, blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea for the D'Andraia situation.
"Once again, Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD brass are sacrificing cops to save their own skin. They created the failed strategy for managing these demonstrations. They sent police officers out to do the job with no support or clean plan. They should be the ones facing this mob-rule justice."
Prosecutors say D'Andraia told Zayer to move out of the street. As she asked why, D'Andraia reportedly smacked her phone out of her hand and shoved her to the ground.
"Them acting the way they acted today isn't helping the cause," Zayer told reporters a few days after the video of her injury went viral. "It isn't proving to us that they care about us. He did this in front of his lieutenant and multiple officers who watched me hit the ground. One even looked back to make sure I was still on the ground and they continued walking. Not one officer tried to help me and not one officer tried to stop the officer who assaulted me."
D'Andraia's supervisor is also facing discipline, NBC News reports.
Late last week, Commissioner Shea called for an end to violence, formally apologizing for the NYPD's role in racial bias in the past. He promised that officers caught mistreating protesters would be disciplined.
He also noted that officers have been increasingly targeted by unprovoked attacks. Officers have been shot at, stabbed and attacked with other objects since the protests began almost two weeks ago.
The video of the officer pushing Zayer is eerily similar to footage of two Buffalo Police Officers shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground during a demonstration in the western New York city late-last week.
The man was standing adjacent to a path officers were walking when two of them shoved aside. He can be seen losing his balance and falling backwards, hitting his head on the sidewalk. Blood begins pooling around his head as the officers continue marching.
Photo: Getty Images