Police Arrest Dozens In Crackdown On Peaceful Protest: NYPD

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Dozens of peaceful protesters were arrested in a single Midtown Manhattan intersection Wednesday night when police cracked down on marchers for violating New York City's curfew, NYPD officials told reporters.

NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan told Fox News that at least 60 people were arrested on Third Avenue and East 50th Street because a large group of protesters was walking into an area that has been targeted by looters in recent nights.

"This is a group we've been walking around for a long time. For hours our cops have been going, we've been giving them the streets, giving them the room to protest — 8 o'clock is our curfew. This is the area that we've had our issues in over the last few nights. Everyone knows what's happened here," Monahan said during an interview filmed in the intersection.

Protesters were warned multiple times about violating New York City's 8 p.m. curfew before officers were given the order to make arrests around 9 p.m., Monahan said. The curfew crackdown in Midtown represents an escalation from police that was not seen during Tuesday night protests. In Monahan's own words during a Wednesday morning appearance on TODAY the chief admitted: "Protesters that were still protesting past 8:00 peacefully, we allowed to continue."

Video shared by protesters, reporters and witnesses show that protesters marching on Third Avenue were walking peacefully and took a knee in the avenue before police started to make arrests.

A video of the crackdown on 50th Street and Third Avenue posted on Twitter shows police officers using nightsticks to beat protesters on bikes. City Councilman Keith Powers, whose district includes the area of Midtown where arrests were made, described the officers' actions as "absolutely unacceptable," in a statement posted to social media.

"My office will be following up on this instance to find out what led this to happen and take action as needed," Powers said in the statement.

New Yorkers have taken to the streets every night since Thursday to protest police brutality, systemic racism and white supremacy since the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd, who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. New York City officials have described protests as largely peaceful, but instituted a curfew after looters burglarized stores in retail districts such as SoHo and Midtown's Herald Square.