A local reverend and community activist recently shared a pair of videos on his Facebook page of an NYPD officer placing what looks like a chokehold on a man in a Manhattan subway station, in a confrontation that occurred just days before the same physical tactic, which is prohibited by the police department, befell a Staten Island man who later died. UPDATE: The NYPD is reportedly conducting an internal investigation into the matter.
Reverend Kelmy Rodriguez, of East Harlem, posted the videos of the same confrontation — one with a link he shared from a man who said he shot the video and witnessed the confrontation, and another which Rodriguez said a tipster sent him. The raw video he posted followed with a caption:
I am looking for witnesses to this incident which occurred this past Monday, July 14, 2014 at approximately 3:00 p.m. This took place at the 116 Street and Lexington Avenue train station. Please inbox me….
Rodriguez later amended his post to say the incident occurred at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue stop.
Ever since the July 17 confrontation in which a plain clothes cop was captured on video placing a chockehold on 43-year-old Eric Garner — who later died — a focus has been on the technique, which has been banned by the NYPD since 1993. Garner’s funeral will be held today in Brooklyn.
Rodriguez told WPIX that a tipster sent him the video, and an eyewitness told him that man jumped a turnstile, which prompted the confrontation with cops.
