Amsterdam News Staff
Black Assemblymember Michael Blake spoke last week to millions of people when he took the stage at the Democratic National Convention. However, he’s now in the spotlight alleging that he was the victim of excessive force by police.
Reports indicate that the incident occurred Saturday while Blake was at a community barbecue event at the Gouverneur Morris Houses in the Bronx. Blake said he approached a police officer after he saw a woman standing next to the officer in handcuffs and two people arguing with an officer. The officer, Blake claims, slammed him into a gate after he asked what was going on.
Blake was let go when two officers who were also on the scene recognized him. He says that his race played a factor in his treatment and that the only reason he was let go was because of his position as an elected official.
“I was involved in an incident with an NYPD officer who used excessive force against me and [was] slamming me against a gate while I was attempting to diffuse a tense situation between police and members in my community,” Blake said in one interview.
However, the NYPD has a different take on what happened. Police say Blake approached the officer from behind, did not identify himself and put his hand on the officer’s shoulder. Law enforcement officials said that the officer did not know what was going on and was moving Blake out of the way.
Blake didn’t suffer any injuries and said that the officer did apologize. The Bronx assemblyman asserts that he was the victim of excessive force and plans to take the issue to the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
While Mayor Bill de Blasio, Commanding Officer Jerry O’Sullivan and the Bronx police chief have all apologized for the incident, Blake said he wanted an apology from now outgoing Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
Meeting at Blake’s assembly office over the incident, Bratton said during a press conference that he would not apologize and that an investigation into what happened is ongoing.
“It is absolutely disrespectful that after my press conference calling for transparency, justice and reform, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said that he will not apologize to me for the unfortunate behavior of one of his officers who used excessive force against me,” Blake said.
On Tuesday, Blake slightly changed his tune when the news broke that Bratton was resigning as NYPD Commissioner. While he was still upset over the lack of an apology, Blake praised Bratton.
“While I am still appalled by the lack of an apology from Commissioner Bratton after the use of excessive force used against me on Saturday, I can and will commend him for his decades of public service and his attempt to keep New Yorkers safe,” he said.
