Watch this video. Knee on neck. Just days ago in NYC. Just like what happened to George Floyd. Lucky he didn’t die. His public defender at Legal Aid Society now calling on @QueensDAKatz to dismiss charges & NYPD to terminate cops. Full powerful statement:
Sircarlyle Arnold's defender Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin): "This video is merely a microcosm of the racist policing that Black & Latinx New Yorkers suffer on a regular basis. These officers' first impulse was to employ an illegal, life-threatening, knee-on-neck hold on Mr. Arnold." 
"Not only should the case against Mr. Arnold be immediately dismissed in the interest of justice, but NYPD must expeditiously terminate the officers involved, & DA Katz--upholding her promise to hold accountable officers who commit serious acts of misconduct--must bring charges."
"The top charge against Mr. Arnold in this case is Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree--a misdemeanor--for allegedly operating an ATV." No conduct would have justified this fatal & outlawed move. But he was riding an ATV. During a memorial ride for a friend who had died.
"The Legal Aid Society calls on @QueensDAKatz to dismiss the remaining low-level charges pending against Sircarlyle Arnold, who was violently arrested & placed in a knee-on-neck hold, the same technique used in the killing of George Floyd."
Critical context: "Following the murder of George Floyd, the City enacted a bill that banned chokeholds & other methods of restraint, such as kneeling on a person's neck. Officers who employed these brutal & unlawful arrest tactics would be guilty of a class A misdemeanor."
Queens public defender Oluyemi Olurin (follow her if you don't already: @msolurin) posted the disturbing video on Twitter yesterday. She represents Mr. Arnold.
https://twitter.com/msolurin/status/1346617602907512834?s=20
“Why you got your knee on his face?” a man shouts in the video.
“Look at his knee,” the same man repeats nine times. “Look at his knee on his neck.”
“Take your knee off,” another woman screams.queenseagle.com/all/queens-cop…
“Look at his knee,” the same man repeats nine times. “Look at his knee on his neck.”
“Take your knee off,” another woman screams.queenseagle.com/all/queens-cop…
Sircarlyle Arnold on the abuse he suffered: "I was not resisting at all. I’m laying on the ground, there's no need to have your knee on my neck for over a minute. You guys treated me like this for no reason after all this stuff that just went on?" gothamist.com/news/video-sho…
Sometimes legal advocacy needs to happen outside of court. Away from business-as-usual where prosecutors just take the word of cops as gospel & do nothing without accountability to the public. Extraordinary advocacy by @LegalAidNYC & public defender Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin).
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