A video has gone viral of a young woman being aggressively thrown to the ground by a police officer during Friday night’s (May 29th) protest.
The NYPD has now announced that they will be reviewing the video. The footage was first posted on Twitter by Jason Lemon, a Newsweek reporter, who said that the uniformed cop called the young woman a “stupid f***ing b**ch.”
The woman, who was later identified as Dounya Zayer, retweeted Lemon and said, “This was me, and I want to make one thing clear to all the people that are commenting lies below this video. I did NOT spit in this officer’s face. I was wearing a face mask. He told me to get out of the street and then immediately threw me out of the way.”
This was me, and I want to make one thing clear to all the people that are commenting lies below this video. I did NOT spit in this officers face. I was wearing a face mask. He told me to get out of the street and then immediately threw me out of the way. https://t.co/349TZijtD8
— Dounya Zayer (@zayer_dounya) May 30, 2020
Zayer also shared the video she recorded moments before the incident took place.
This is the officer. He threw my phone before throwing me. As you can see I was already backing up. All I asked was why. pic.twitter.com/8mct5GrztV
— Dounya Zayer (@zayer_dounya) May 30, 2020
Whitey Hu, another witness, shared a different angle of the video of Zayer being thrown to the ground. Hu also gave updates on Zayer’s condition afterward, stating that she suffered from a severe seizure.
Update: Got her permission with a fuck yeah. The cop pushed her so hard at Barclays & she flung back. She is tiny. Now she’s in the ER after a serious seizure. I’m waiting for updates but have to wait outside because of COVID-19. Please keep my protest sister in your thoughts. pic.twitter.com/MqV0QJ0D8h
— Whitney Hu 胡安行 (@whitney_hu) May 30, 2020
Zayer posted a video on Twitter from her hospital bed addressing the incident where she was being treated for a concussion.
Stop making excuses for the police. They are supposed to be protecting us. Not hurting us. pic.twitter.com/SoYtWMxIMh
— Dounya Zayer (@zayer_dounya) May 30, 2020
Mayor de Blasio also addressed the video. “Any time you see a protester just arbitrarily thrown to the ground by a police officer, that does not reflect our values,” he continued.
“It’s unacceptable…the NYPD has to do better… There will be accountability. We have to keep people’s faith that the NYPD is here to protect them.”