Cop Shoves NYC's New Council Speaker At 'Violent' Protest

DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Newly minted City Council Speaker said an NYPD cop shoved him "without warning" at an immigration protest Thursday morning near Foley Square. A handful of officers and about a dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents turned an originally peaceful gathering "needlessly violent," Johnson said at a news conference.

A couple hundred protesters stood outside the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service building at 26 Federal Plaza to decry ICE's arrest of Ravi Ragbir, a longtime immigrant-rights activist who now faces deportation to his native Trinidad. Some were trying to block an ambulance carrying Ragbir, who had fainted inside.

Johnson said about a dozen ICE agents then walked out of the building and "without warning or provocation, shoved and pushed" the protesters. An NYPD cop came up to Johnson and shoved him, then refused to give his name or badge number, the speaker said.

Johnson blamed ICE for most of the "total mayhem" that erupted, and said most NYPD cops behaved better.

"The behavior that I witnessed from the ICE agents and the behavior that I witnessed from other select members from the NYPD was completely and totally unacceptable," Johnson said.

But ICE spokeswoman Rachael Yong Yow said none of the agency's officers were involved. Only officers from the Federal Protective Service were outside the building, she said in an email.

Eighteen people were arrested, including Councilmen Jumaane Williams and Ydanis Rodriguez. Photos show an NYPD cop handcuffing Williams and an officer putting his arms around Rodriguez's neck while Rodriguez was in handcuffs — a moment Rodriguez described as a "chokehold."

The NYPD is reviewing the "extensive video" from the rally, said Sgt. Jessica McRorie, a police spokswoman. Police Commissioner James O'Neill told Johnson in a phone call that the review is underway.

"At this point, it appears the police were clearing a path for an ambulance with a patient inside that was en route to a hospital," McRorie said in a statement. "The NYPD was attempting to clear a path for that ambulance, which was purposely and repeatedly being blocked."

While he admitted some protesters were blocking the ambulance — which eventually got Ragbir to Bellevue Hospital — Johnson said no one acted violently toward any law enforcement.

Johnson said the NYPD should release any body camera video it has from the chaotic protest.

"Violence should not be the first response to a peaceful act of civil disobedience," said Johnson, adding that he's been arrested at protests as many as four times. "I've been to many protests in my time and I have never witnessed anything quite like this."

(Lead image: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson speaks at a protest near Foley Square on Thursday. Photo from Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez via Twiter)