Protesters ignite NYPD vehicle, throw trash and bottles at Brooklyn cops
A police-versus-protester faceoff near Brooklyn’s 67 Precinct erupted in mace-clouded violence Saturday night — with a marked, empty NYPD SUV set on fire and out-of-control marchers raining glass bottles and other objects down on cops from rooftops.
An hourlong standoff at Church Street and Bedford Avenue in East Flatbush intensified at 10 p.m. when a scrimmage line of at least 100 riot-gear clad cops was forced to retreat as hundreds of protesters advanced.
The officers then began standing their ground again, and the standoff continued.
It was one of some dozen protests that popped up throughout New York City on Saturday in solidarity with coast-to-coast, sometimes aggressive anti-police-brutality rallies in the wake of the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Near the tense intersection, just two blocks from the 67th Precinct, four male and one female protester climbed stood atop an empty MTA bus that police had hoped to use to transport prisoners.
The police car burst into flames a little after 9 p.m. but was quickly extinguished by the NYPD.
Two cops, apparently injured, were transported from the scene by EMS.
“Black lives matter,” they chanted. “Say his name! George Floyd!”
Adding to the bedlam, a protester cruised down the street on a moped, popping wheelies.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore, Dean Balsamini, Georgett Roberts, Khristina Narizhnaya, Julia Marsh,
Larry Celona