The New York police department has launched an internal investigation after videos posted online showed two police officers repeatedly punching and kicking a man they were attempting to arrest on Tuesday.
In a statement on Wednesday, the New York City police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said that “there are a number of videos circulating online of an incident that occurred yesterday inside a store in Brooklyn involving two members of the NYPD.
“These videos are deeply disturbing, and the matter is under active investigation by the NYPD’s internal affairs bureau,” she said, adding that the two officers involved had been placed on desk duty as the investigation takes place and their guns and shields had been taken away.
The police department has said that the officers had been “engaged in a planned and supervised” undercover drug operation in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn on Tuesday, but that they had mistakenly targeted the wrong man.
According to the police, the man “matched the description” of a man they had been looking for who had been involved in a drug deal earlier that day.
But the police said that it was was “later determined” that the man in the video “was not involved in the drug sale”.
Videos of the incident show the two officers repeatedly punching and kicking the man to the ground, and dragging him across the floor, as they attempt to arrest him.
The man in the video was initially charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration, and he received a desk appearance ticket. However, the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, told CBS News on Wednesday that the charge would be dropped.
“This individual was not charged with any offense related to the sale of narcotics because it was later determined that he was not involved in the drug sale,” police said.
The incident drew swift condemnation from city leaders.
New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani – who has had some differences with Tisch over policing issues in recent months, and also faced criticism from some police unions over his response to a snowball fight incident in February – said that “the violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable.
“Officers should never treat a person this way,” he added. “The NYPD is conducting a full investigation into this incident.”
Other city leaders and lawmakers also condemned the incident.
The New York City comptroller, Mark Levine, also condemned the incident, calling the video “deeply disturbing and unacceptable behavior from members of law enforcement.
“Commissioner Tisch has rightly initiated an investigation,” he said.
Lincoln Restler, a Brooklyn city council member, described the incident as “extremely disturbing” and called for the officers to “be suspended immediately and ultimately fired”.
Another Brooklyn city council member, Shahana Hanif, also held a news conference on Wednesday and demanded for “justice for my constituent who was violently beaten by two officers”.
“Those officers must be held fully accountable,” she said.
Hanif said that she had been in touch with Mamdani, as well as Tisch and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
“I appreciate the commissioner’s swift action in removing the officers’ firearms and badges, and the DA’s decision to drop charges against my constituent,” she said.
