On the evening of June 11-12, scores of riot cops chased, beat and sprayed hundreds of people at random in the streets of Bushwick, Brooklyn, in an effort to disperse neighborhood residents celebrating Puerto Rican Day.At approximately 10:30pm, this SHADOW reporter was in the vicinity of Myrtle and Knickerbocker Avenues in Bushwick, where the police were engaging in unbridled violence against people as young as eight years old. Police blockaded streets and stomped on Puerto Rican flags that they had confiscated from revelers. Police were sweeping down the sidewalk clubbing people who could not move out of the way. The police were followed by a command officer in a white shirt who casually sprayed Mace into windows at families inside who were looking out at what was going on, like an exterminator splashing roach spray into a corner. He was followed in his wake by the amazing sound of screaming parents and children.
At 10:30, people were still celebrating Puerto Rican Day by waving Puerto Rican flags, dancing, and driving slowly through the streets of Bushwick. Police were controlling traffic and arresting some people who were celebrating too boisterously. Inspector Joseph Esposito, commanding officer of the 83rd precinct, said the people had been given a permit until midnight, after which the police were going to clear the street. Until then, according to Esposito, the police would arrest some violators and allow everyone else to play.
At 11:15, David Tornella, a construction worker in his twenties said, "We are Puerto Rican; we ain't done yet. The party has just begun." The crowd was mixed, consisting mostly of families with young children. The street was probably more orderly than it usually was in the daytime. Police vans and Emergency Service Unit trucks converged at the corner of Knickerbocker and blocked the street. The cops that came out swatted a few kids and arrested four boys in front of a Burger King.
Lisa Hernandez, 27, a housewife who was pushing her baby in a stroller asked, "Why are they doing this? It ain't fair, they shouldn't be doing this." She and others said the boys were unaware of any trouble and were coming out of the restaurant when they were arrested.
At 11:30, six police jumped a small man on the corner of Menahan Street and arrested him. He had done nothing to provoke the attack. Cops began clearing both sidewalks along Myrtle and telling people sitting on stoops to go inside. Fifteen police moved people from in front of the K & S market at 1364 Myrtle and arrested four others who didn't get out of the way in time. Meanwhile, the I was told by someone that the police were saying that members of the press were going to get hurt. In fact this reporter was within a few feet of the police beatings and sprayings, and people mistaking me for a cop were dropping objects out of windows on me.
At 12:00 police attacked. A squad car was bellowing "Vamanoose, Vamanoose. You have to get off the street. Thank you very much. We will see you next year. Vamanoose--go home!" Two squad cars blocked both ends of Irving Avenue (between Green and Gillespie). Foot police in riot gear forced people off the sidewalks and stoops along Irving Avenue. I was pushed out of the way with a club and people next to me who were trying to see what was going on were arrested.
Police followed people around the corner onto Greene Street. They rushed on to stoops and shoved people inside. They kicked people into doorways and sprayed them with Mace. Denise Acevedo, who lives on Bleeker Street, said "I was standing on my stoop and they shoved me inside. I hit myself on the door." She had a large bruise on her left eye. Ray Velez, 24, a salesman who also lives on Bleeker said, "we were sitting here. They came in a group and started shoving us. They hit her. One raised a nightstick and hit her.
One young male stopped his bicycle in the street to try and get his bearings. Police in car number 2337 told the boy to move. He didn't seem to hear them. They crushed the rear wheel of his bicycle with the squad car. The boy tried to get off the bike and the cops were on him. They beat him with their clubs and arrested him. I did not see him do anything to provoke the attack.
Maria Morales, who was visiting her aunt on Bleeker said, "we were on the corner and they said everybody go inside. They pushed us inside. We locked the door and they left. It's too crazy, they're too wild."
Milagros Matos, 47, a disabled, retired funeral director said, "It's incredible the way the police act. They came running and pushed us inside. They banged my elbow." (It was visibly swollen and bruised.) "It's not right; we live here. We don't do nothing. There were five kids on the stoop." (ages 2, 4, 10, 12, and 13). "They pushed them too."
Around the corner on Irving Avenue police had cleared the street. Two young men in a badly dented car strayed into the area. The passenger was waving a Puerto Rican flag out the window. A policeman batted the man on the head as he passed, like he was hitting a fast pitch. People on both sides of the street were sickened by the sight and sound of the club on his skull. The police pulled the man out of the car, beating and arresting him. He did nothing to resist." Bottles were thrown at the police as they beat the man.
Joe Cuasco, another witness, said "They beat the shit out of him for no reason. They were just driving along, and the cop hit him with a baton. He was hanging out of the window; they hit him and dragged him out of the car. Police forced their way into buildings on both sides of the street to gain entry to the roofs. I saw them batter doors and break windows. They were screaming "Open up, motherfuckers; open the fucking door."
Robert Miranda, who lives on Irving, said, "They beat the shit out of everybody. We have videotapes. They came over here and broke our windows to get inside. They arrested the guy upstairs for standing on his stoop. They beat a pregnant woman and a couple of guys." A press vehicle drove by and had its windows smashed. The crew split in a hurry. Bottles were flying. The police broke the windows of 1237 Bleeker with their batons and went inside to the roof.
Police swept Irving Avenue again, forcing people off their stoops into their apartments. I saw one policeman attack a man who was trying to get in his door. He kicked the man in the stomach hard enough to kill him. Rosa Nu§ez of Irving Avenue told the SHADOW, "We were at the windows and they sprayed us with pepper spray. It went into our mouths and eyes. There were five kids in the window." The children were with their parents.
I followed the screams inside and saw a family that was severely traumatized. The children were hysterical, and their mother, Elsie Santana, was in agony. She had been sprayed in the eyes. The children tried to help her. They were terrified and in pain. Eight-year-old Crystal said, "the spray go into my mouth." Miranda, who lives on the first floor in a front apartment said. "They sprayed me in the mouth. I was in the window. The cops said "get your ass in the window" and sprayed me. This shit burns."
When they called an ambulance, none came. The police came to the door and asked if anyone needed medical attention. The injured people told them they did not. The cops had inflicted the injuries. Police would not leave the ambulance. Two cops in riot gear sat with a woman as she received treatment later.
Other reports received by the SHADOW include: a Chinese couple on a pay phone were roughed up by cops; a Polish man walking through the neighborhood was grabbed and arrested in a sweep by cops; four men driving by were beaten and dragged from their cars by cops.
One cop, P.O. Paul Campson of the 83rd precinct, received a head wound requiring 25 stitches when he got hit with a brick. Sources told the SHADOW that Campson was one of the most aggressive violent cops
Police officials justified their actions, saying that a show of force was needed because the celebration was in danger of getting out of hand. Inspector Esposito told the Daily News: "We moved in when we decided the conduct was becoming too dangerous for the people in the neighborhood."
Mayor Rudolf Giuliani, who was booed as he marched in the Puerto Rican Day Parade on Fifth Avenue two days earlier, praised the police actions. He said: "They got it under control with a minimum of damage." A total of 124 people were arrested, with four cops injured.
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