The Manhattan District Attorney has dropped felony charges against the Black Lives Matter leader who was accused of assaulting a police officer, after an angry crowd chased off an NYPD team sent to arrest the man.
DA Cyrus Vance personally ordered the charges against Derrick Ingram, 28, from felony assault in the second degree to misdemeanor assault, a law enforcement source told the New York Post.
Ingram is accused of injuring a female cop by shouting directly in her ear with a bullhorn on June 14, resulting in the officer being hospitalized with temporary hearing damage.
On Friday, a team of NYPD officers who were sent to arrest Ingram retreated after an hours-long standoff outside his home, where an angry crowd confronted them. Ingram later surrendered at a police precinct after the arrest team left.
Derrick Ingram, 28, is accused of injuring a female cop by shouting directly in her ear with a bullhorn on June 14 at a protest in Manhattan
DA Cyrus Vance reportedly personally ordered the charges against Ingram from felony assault in the second degree to misdemeanor assault
Ingram, who had faced up to seven years in prison if convicted on the felony charge, now faces as little as no jail time if convicted of the misdemeanor.
The DA’s office gave no explanation for the reduced charge, on which Ingram was released with no bail Saturday night.
NYC Patrolman’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch blasted the decision to drop the felony charge against Ingram, who is the leader of activist group Warriors in the Garden.
‘Is there any doubt who is in charge of this city now? The criminal mob is dictating their terms to the NYPD brass and district attorneys, who are tripping over themselves to comply,’ Lynch said in a statement.
‘Police officers want to know: What are we still doing out here?’ he continued.
‘Why are our leaders sending us out to enforce laws they don’t believe in? And what are we supposed to tell New Yorkers who are watching us retreat while violence overwhelms their streets?’ Lynch added.
Earlier this week, the NYPD released citywide crime statistics for July, showing a 177 percent increase in the number of shooting incidents across the city compared to last year.
Murders were up 59 percent for the month, burglaries rose 31 percent, and auto thefts increased 53 percent.
NYPD officers are seen during the failed attempt to arrest Ingram on Friday. Police union bosses are now blasting the decision to reduce the charges against Ingram
On Friday, dozens of NYPD officers clad in riot gear descended on Ingram’s apartment to arrest him for allegedly assaulting a female officer by using a bullhorn to scream into her ear at a protest.
An hours-long standoff ensued as Ingram refused to let the officers enter his apartment without a warrant and decried the allegations against him via Instagram Live.
‘What did I do? What did I do?’ Ingram said on the livestream. ‘I was born black, that’s what I did.’
Meanwhile a throng of protesters gathered near Ingram’s home and aimed to force the officers to retreat by shouting at them and filming the stunning show of force on social media.
The NYPD officers retreated as the protest crowd grew – eliciting outrage from police union leaders who said they should not have backed down.
The apparent surrender came a day after dozens of NYPD officers clad in riot gear descended on Ingram’s apartment to arrest him on charges that he assaulted a female officer by using a bullhorn to scream into her ear at a protest
Ingram documented his attempted arrest on Friday during an Instagram Live from inside his apartment as officers banged on his door and demanded that he come out. ‘What did I do?’ he said on the livestream. ‘I was born black, that’s what I did’
The officers had arrived at Ingram’s apartment in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood at about 7am Friday but did not have a warrant allowing forced entry.
Officers banged on the door and demanded that Ingram emerge while police dogs stood in the hallway and an NYPD helicopter circled above.
About two dozen police vehicles lined West 45th Street as barriers were put up on either end of the block.
Ingram broadcasted the situation on Warrior in the Garden’s Instagram account from inside his apartment, eventually drawing a massive crowd of protesters to the edge of the blockade.
In the Instagram video Ingram was heard speaking to his lawyer on the phone while a cop outside his door shouted: ‘Why don’t you be the warrior you state you are and come out and face the system?’
Ingram told his audience that he was afraid that officers would hurt him if he went outside, or that they would plant something incriminating in his home if he gave them access.
Derrick Ingram, an organizer of New York City’s Black Lives Matter protests, turned himself in to police on Saturday morning, hours after he was besieged inside his apartment by officers seeking to arrest him for attacking a cop. Ingram is seen center in a red checkered shirt marching to the Midtown North Precinct in Manhattan alongside about 100 protesters
Ingram (center) raises his fist in the air as he and about 100 supporters marched to the Midtown North Precinct on Saturday
Ingram (second left) stood outside the precinct for a few moments with protesters before heading in to speak with officials. An NYPD spokeswoman said Ingram, 28, was booked on a charge of second-degree assault in connection with a June 14 incident during a protest in Midtown Manhattan
On the street below, over 100 protesters raised their fists and chanted: ‘Where’s your warrant.’
About six hours into the stand-off police suddenly began to disperse after NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea reportedly ordered them to pull back at about 1pm.
Warriors in the Garden, a youth-led group that Ingram co-founded in the wake of the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis that has organized many peaceful protests in New York City the past few months, issued a statement condemning Ingram’s attempted arrest on Friday.
The group accused the NYPD of using ‘threats and intimidation tactics’ to rattle Ingram, noting that he has ‘no criminal history’.
‘This was an attempt to silence our movement,’ the group said. ‘This militarized police response endangers the safety of residents in Hell’s Kitchen and across NYC.’
Source: Daily Mail
