BLM Protesters Rally Outside Bayside Home Of NYPD Union Boss

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Black Lives Matter protesters on Wednesday brought their demands for an end to police brutality and defunding the NYPD to the doorstep of the president of the world's largest municipal police union.

The peaceful demonstration outside the Bayside home of Police Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch, which was barricaded and guarded by more than a dozen maskless officers, called attention to Lynch's past comments about the Black Lives Matter and #DefundNYPD movement and his organization's recent endorsement of President Donald Trump's re-election bid.

Protesters also decried Lynch and his union's efforts to block recent police reforms, such as criminalizing the use of chokeholds and the repeal of a law used to shield police misconduct records.

About 100 activists from Bayside Black Lives Matter and other anti-racist groups marched through the Northeast Queens neighborhood — where only 1 percent of residents are Black, according to U.S. Census estimates —to the NYPD's 111th Precinct, whose officers have been criticized for failing to arrest a pro-police demonstrator who slapped a Black Lives Matter protester last month.

An organizer with the Bayside Black Lives Matter group, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, told Patch that the rally was inspired by a similar protest outside the home of the Minneapolis police union's president.

It was in Minneapolis where George Floyd died as police officers kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, igniting nationwide protests in his name.

In New York City, organizers have long contemplated staging a protest outside Lynch's home, the Bayside Black Lives Matter organizer said.

"A lot of us have been wary of police unions from the start," the organizer told Patch. "We don't consider them unions in the 'worker power' sense of the word.

"Unions are meant to empower workers, and the police have always been used — were in fact created — to put down worker rebellions."

(Warning: This video contains explicit language.)

Protesters paid a visit to fascist NYPD cop union president Pat Lynch’s home earlier tonite. Cops showed up before protesters could arrive though & put up barricades on Lynch’s block. Lynch & the PBA recently endorsed fellow fascist Donald Trump for President. pic.twitter.com/VcnILCyjxw
— Ash J (@AshAgony) August 20, 2020

In a statement, Lynch said New Yorkers are "under siege after months of brutal violence on our streets" and want police officers to focus on "stopping the bloodshed," not on protesters.

"New York City police officers will protect your right to protest wherever it can be done safely and legally, including in front of my house," Lynch said. "But these protestors should realize they are wasting their time. Their campaign of harassment and intimidation might have the politicians running scared, but it will have zero impact on the PBA."

(Video courtesy of @I_m_not_a_drug_dealer/Instagram, used with permission)