Leftist Protester Caught on Video Allegedly Trying To Cut NYPD Car Brake Lines
In what’s easily the most repulsive example of anti-police sentiment in New York City — and in a category with much competition — a left-wing protester is under arrest after he was allegedly caught on video trying to cut the brakes on a New York Police Department car, the New York Daily News reports.
Jeremy Trapp, 24, had taken part in the Occupy City Hall protests — a mini-CHOP encampment that had been set up in the backyard of Gracie Mansion demanding the defunding of the NYPD. Apparently, that wasn’t yielding results fast enough for him.
So, according to a police detective who said he caught Trapp in the act, he was found underneath an NYPD van on Friday. They stopped him before he got in the van, and they took a pair of scissors from him.
“A senior police official says a mechanic confirmed the brake line damage that would have prevented the van from coming to a stop,” WNBC-TV reported.
Well, that is, if he cut the right wire.
According to the Daily News, Trapp wasn’t exactly an expert on how to potentially injure and/or kill police officers; authorities said he ended up cutting the wire that measures the speed of the wheels, not the one that would have disabled the brakes.
That said, police said he intended to cut the brakes, and that means he’s going to be facing a whole host of charges — specifically, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal tampering, auto stripping and obstructing governmental administration.
The 24-year-old was released without bail (of course) and won’t be back in court until December.
This isn’t the only auto tampering that the NYPD has faced, mind you. In June, Police Benevolent Association head Pat Lynch warned the union’s 24,000 members that lug nuts were being loosened on the personal vehicles of police officers, according to the New York Post.
In a message to members, Lynch said the lug-nut loosening was a “clear act of sabotage” and that officers should “carefully inspect both Department vehicles and their personal vehicles for any potential sabotage. Any sabotage or vandalism MUST be reported to command supervisors immediately upon discovery. Stationhouse security MUST be given the highest priority at all times and at all NYPD facilities.”
And then there was the vacant NYPD cruiser that was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail — allegedly by a human rights lawyer, Urooj Rahman. If that case wasn’t strange enough already, Rahman ended up being bailed out by a former Obama administration official, Salmah Rizvi.
Those were in the early days of the recent spate of protests, however.
The Occupy City Hall contingent features the ultras of the movement. They’re not quite hangers-on, since there are still plenty of demonstrations and encampments. However, they’re the sort of leftists who thought Mayor Bill de Blasio wasn’t draining enough money from the NYPD, having only chopped $1 billion from the department’s budget.
So, they brought their tents out to Gracie Mansion, set up camp and set up their own autonomous zone — although, this being New York City and property sizes being what they are, it was quite a bit smaller than its counterpart in Seattle. Similarly, the encampment changed its name, shifting from “Occupy City Hall” to “Abolition Park.”
According to NY1, de Blasio was loath to do anything about the graffiti-laden health-hazard eyesore — at least, anything that officially had his name attached to it.
“There is a balance we always strike between the right to protest and especially public safety, and I always put public safety first while respecting constitutional rights,” the mayor said Tuesday during a media briefing. “That decision will be made by the NYPD as things emerge. We’re looking at the situation every day.”
According to WNBC-TV, n the early hours of Wednesday morning, things had apparently emerged enough that the NYPD, clad in riot gear, looked at the situation and decided it was time to clear the place out.
NYPD breaks up occupy zone at city hall after a month. Situation still dicey. pic.twitter.com/PIh5ILeZm7
— Rob Schmitt (@SchmittNYC) July 22, 2020
NYPD is now attacking the City Hall occupancy protest. Tearing down the community service tents. #nycprotest pic.twitter.com/Ia4HpxhvSy
— Max Hornig (@swarmofgaybees) July 22, 2020
Welcome to New York.
Obviously, if he’s guilty, Trapp bears sole responsibility for everything he’s alleged to have done, the same way that lug-nut looseners and police cruiser firebombers bear sole responsibility for the actions they’ve to have done.
De Blasio and those around him don’t escape the responsibility of their own here, though.
They’ve appeased and enabled a rabblement set against their own police department while, at the same time, asking that police department to control that rabblement when things get too heavy.
It’s little wonder that massive numbers of NYPD officers are filing for retirement. Why would you deal with protesters who want to cut your brake lines at the same time City Hall is making it clear they’ve don’t have your back?
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