Gang of NYPD Cops Caught on Video Committing Aggravated Assault on Black Man in the Street, Striking Him w/Batons, Fists & Stomping Him to Coerce Obedience to Non-Smoking Law

From [NewYorkTimes] Several police officers pummeled a Black man in the middle of a street in Upper Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon with their batons, fists and feet, according to a witness who took a video of the incident.

The beating, the police said, came after two transit officers had an altercation with two men they had asked to leave the entrance of a nearby subway station.

The two men, Sidney Williams, 37, and Aaron Grissom, 36, were arrested on charges of felony assault and other offenses, and treated at a hospital, police officials said. Two of the officers had minor injuries.

According to police officials, several commuters had complained about the men smoking in an entrance to the A, C and 1 trains at 169th Street on Broadway.

The transit officers spent five minutes trying to persuade the men to move away from the area, and then one of the men threw a punch at one of the officers, which was not captured on the video, the officials said. [MORE]