N.Y. Jews Want Police Apology

[Scurrilous]

Brooklynites say a chief flew into a racially charged rage during a street protest of officers' alleged mistreatment of a 75-year-old man.

<snip>

"Police officials faced fallout Wednesday from a street disturbance in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, including accusations that their department's highest-ranking uniformed officer flew into a rage and cursed at the crowd.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat, said many civilians heard Chief of Department Joseph Esposito yell "{obscenity} the Jews!" and "{obscenity} the community!" while officers struggled to tame an unruly crowd Tuesday night in Borough Park. The politician and other community leaders were demanding an apology.

Esposito "lost it last night," Hikind said. "He thought he was in the Wild West."

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a Republican, said that although officials would review the entire episode, "from what I can see the Police Department acted appropriately."

The department released a statement saying Esposito "acknowledged that in attempting to bring under control a chaotic situation in front of the 66th Precinct stationhouse last night he used inappropriate language in instructing police officers to 'Get these … people out of here.'"

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[MADem]

1. Is this in reference to this RIOT???

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=844098&mesg_id=844098

If it is, those guys started a riot, trapped a cop in his car, broke the window, refused to let the fire truck in to stop the fire they started, and were tossing cardboard boxes on the bonfire they set....not a bunch of sweethearts!!!

File under two wrongs don't make a right????

[Cassandra]

2. Well, they did set a patrol car on fire.

That deserves a curse or two.

[Coastie for Truth]

3. Change the description

African American
Female
Congressperson
New Hairdo
A few extra pounds

Happens here all the time with our VietNamese and Latino communities.

Community policing is tough. People hate cops and love firefighters.

[gratuitous]

4. Odd, isn't it?

This is a "street disturbance" featuring an "unruly crowd." Yet if the folks who surrounded a police car and set it on fire had been, as you suggest, African American or some other ethnic group, I wonder if this would still be characterized as a "street disturbance" or the only description of the crowd would be "unruly."

Things that make you go "Hmmmm."

I will be most interested to see if The Daily Show offers a treatment of this event. They've focused in on some (though not all) purely provincial NYC events before.