One of two men who were arrested for allegedly attacking the New York City Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer during a bloody melee on the Brooklyn Bridge has been released from jail without bail.
Quran Campbell, 25, from The Bronx, has been charged with assault, accused of repeatedly punching NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan in the face and striking a lieutenant during what was supposed to be a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest on Wednesday.
Campbell was arraigned on Thursday and granted supervised release.
Quran Campbell, one of two people accused of attacking NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan (pictured bandaging his injured fingers after attack), was released without bail
Monahan took to Twitter on Friday to blast the Manhattan judge who granted Campbell supervised release
*The chief praised the Manhattan DA for requesting $75,000 bail for Campbell
The second suspect in the attack, 25-year-old Banks Shaborn, was ordered held on $10,000 bail after his arraignment on counts of assault and criminal possession, reported New York Post.
On Friday, Monahan took to Twitter to blast the judge who ordered Campbell’s release without bail, accusing him of putting police officers and the general public at risk.
‘Quran Campbell is captured on video for the nation to witness him viciously assault 3 cops in uniform — 1 who lost consciousness,’ the chief wrote. ‘Judge Robert Rosenthal’s reckless decision to release Mr. Campbell WITHOUT BAIL endangers every NYer and the officers who risk it all to protect them.’
Monahan also praised the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for requesting $75,000 bail.
In an interview with Good Day New York on Thursday, Chief Monahan described his injuries suffered at the hands of the attackers.
‘I have some bruises on my body, my hands, fingers got jammed up, nothing broken,’ Monahan said.
Two other officers – a lieutenant and a sergeant – sustained more serious injuries in the fracas that broke out during dueling pro- and -anti-police protests on the iconic bridge spanning the East River.
‘My sergeant who works with me was hit in the head with a cane,’ Monahan said. ‘He got eight staples put in his head; one of the lieutenants out on the walkway was attacked by an individual — he had the broken orbital bone in his face.’
Monahan identified the person who attacked Lt Richard Mack as Campbell, and said that as he reached over to grab the suspect, the 25-year-old punched him several times before getting arrested.
The NYPD later released a video of the suspect in the attack who is seen fleeing the scene
Mack was taken to the hospital with broken orbital sockets in both eyes requiring a dozen stitches.
Monahan said Mayor di Blasio called him after the bridge incident and asked about his physical state and the state of his injured officers.
The top cop characterized Campbell and the other attackers as members of an anarchist group that has infiltrated the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘It is a legitimate movement, but it is being hijacked by these anarchists, and they are the ones that have been attacking our police officers [and] are out hiding behind the many, many peaceful protesters that are out there,’ he said.
On Thursday, a New Jersey woman was charged with assaulting two police officers after allegedly beating them with a cane during the the bridge brawl.
Chanice Reyes, 24, was arrested during an early morning raid near City Hall, a day after footage released by the NYPD showed a suspect clubbing cops.
In a video from the scene a protester – believed to be Reyes – is first seen climbing over the barrier on the bridge holding a cane to club officers. It is not clear which officers she has been charged with assaulting.
Following the assault on officers, police tweeted: ‘The New York City Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance identifying the following individual in the attached photos and video wanted for questioning in regard to an assault on police officers in the confines of the 5th Precinct.
‘On July 15 at approximately 10:10 AM, on the Brooklyn Bridge while attempting to make an arrest an unidentified individual struck multiple police offices with a cane.’
Footage taken by The New York Post shows as Reyes was arrested Thursday morning. Sources told the paper there was ‘a strong smell of marijuana coming from a car’ where police then recognized Reyes as the person wanted over the attack.
Wearing one sock, a ‘Wanted’ t-shirt, and flipping the bird at reporters she said: ‘I didn’t attack nobody.’ She is said to have been taken to hospital for a preliminary psychiatric exam.
Protesters have been camped outside City Hall calling for the NYPD to be defunded. Reyes is said to have resisted arrest there Thursday, allegedly hitting a sergeant and biting another officer on the head.
A bicycle officer helping a fellow officer dress a head wound after the clash on the bridge
Other police photos of the aftermath showed a lieutenant with a bloodied face, a detective holding a bandage to his head
In footage of the incident tweeted by the NYPD Wednesday, the protester is seen swinging a long object down at the heads of a group of officers from a pedestrian walkway as they attempt to arrest someone at 10am.
Police photos of the aftermath showed a lieutenant with a bloodied face, a detective holding a bandage to his head, and a bicycle officer helping other officer dress a head wound. Their injuries are all said to be serious.
Chief of Department Monahan, who is seen the video dressed in a white shirt, suffered an injured finger in the scuffle and other minor injuries, officials said.
Monahan told Fox Thursday morale among officers is ‘as low as it’s been in a long time’. He added: ‘I’m feeling fine. You know, I’ve got a few bruises here and there. Luckily, the fingers weren’t broken, just jammed a bit. So I’m doing OK.
‘I’m doing a lot better than my sergeant and the lieutenant that was attacked.
‘On the street corners, there is a feeling that they don’t have to listen to the police and that they’re willing to fight the police officers.’
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who earlier this month slashed NYPD funding by $1 billion, said Thursday: ‘Peaceful protest is honored in New York City — always has been. There is no acceptable violent protest. Any violent protest will be stopped, and there’ll be consequences for anyone involved.
‘And anyone, anywhere, whether in protest or anything else, who assaults a police officer, it’s unacceptable, and they will suffer the consequences.’
Several NYPD officers were attacked an injured Wednesday as pro-police and anti-police protesters clashed on the Brooklyn Bridge (Chief of Department Terence Monahan shown in white)
In footage of the incident tweeted by the NYPD Wednesday, a protester is seen swinging a long object down at the heads of a group of officers from a pedestrian walkway
Monahan meanwhile, who is seen the video dressed in a white shirt, suffered a fractured his finger in the scuffle and other minor injuries, officials said
The mayor on Wednesday signed into law a series of police accountability measures inspired by the killings of George Floyd, Eric Garner and other black people.
De Blasio had helped paint a Black Lives Matter mural on a Bronx street before signing police reform measures. They include a ban on chokeholds and other restraints that could restrict a person’s breathing.
The NYPD has long barred chokeholds, but that hasn’t stopped some officers from using them in recent years — most notably in Garner’s death on Staten Island just shy of six years ago.
Other reforms include requirements for officers to have their shield numbers visible — and not obscured by things like black mourning bands; for the NYPD to create and publish to its website a schedule of officer disciplinary violations and penalties, and for the department to disclose information about its secret surveillance technology.
Another makes clear that the public has a right to record police activity.
Monahan and the other injured officers were marching with a pro-police group led by local clergy when they were met on the bridge by anti-police activists, some of whom have been camping outside City Hall in recent weeks to demand severe cuts to police funding.
The injured Chief of Department Monahan was one of several NYPD officials lauded last month for taking a knee with demonstrators in the city on June 1.
In a longer clip of the clash obtained by DailyMail.com, an all-out brawl is seen erupting between a dozen protesters and a group of NYPD bike patrol officers.
One protester is seen charging towards an officer, knocking him to the ground and striking him several times as he lay on top of the flattened cop.
A number of other scuffles break out between the demonstrators and cops around them.
As Monahan, who is seen perched on the other side of the fence, attempts to grab one of the protesters, another activist moves in the strike him several times in the face.
The action prompts a cycle unit cop to rush in to his superior’s aid, striking the culprit a number of times before attempting to hoist him over a fence into the custody of Monahan and another officer.
As Monahan, who is seen perched on the other side of the fence, attempts to grab one of the protesters, another activist moves in the strike him several times in the face
The action prompts a cycle unit cop to rush in to his superior’s aid, striking the culprit several times before attempting to hoist him over a fence into the custody of Monahan and another officer
Chief of Department Monahan was one of several NYPD officials lauded last month for taking a knee with demonstrators in the city on June 1
‘If the mayor were doing his job properly, we wouldn’t have this issue. If the DAs were prosecuting the laws, we wouldn’t have these issues. What we are seeing right now is chaos in the city of New York and the victims are minorities,’ Ed Mullins, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, told CBSNY.
Some people in the pro-police group marched with a banner that said, ‘We Support the NYPD.’
The leader of that group said they were calling for an end to a recent spate of violence, including the shooting death of a one-year-old boy in Brooklyn.
The protesters near to where the incident took place scattered as more police swarmed in and several people were taken to the ground and arrested.
At one stage, several officers and bicycles gave chase to one fleeing protester and surrounded him. The protester charged into a number of the bicycles, knocking officers to the ground, PIX11 reported.
The demonstrator was then taken into custody, according to the network. The NYPD were seen loading between 15 to 20 protesters into an NYPD van at 10:05am.
An officer is seen pulling the hair of a Black Lives Matter Protester as he pulls her toward the ground on the Brooklyn Bridge
In total 37 people were arrested following the clash on Wednesday morning, police confirmed
A New York City police officer grabs a Black Lives Matter protester during a confrontation near a pro-police rally and prayer vigil near City Hall
One protester is seen being taken into custody on the Brooklyn Bridge Wednesday morning
‘They literally arrested about 20 of our folks, as this protest, stop, we’re going to arrest Black Lives Matter protesters and then allow this protest to peacefully come by,’ said Jonathan Lykes, Black Youth Project 100 to ABC of the arrests.
‘They didn’t want a counter protest, they didn’t want democracy, they didn’t want freedom in this moment,’ he continued.
Wednesday’s demonstrations were the latest in a wave of protest activity across the country since George Floyd was killed May 25 by Minneapolis police.
Those gathered participated in singing after speeches encouraging people to stop the violence.
‘We’ve come to turn down the walls of injustice and social inequality. We are here to build walls and build bridges that unite people,’ one protester told Fox 5.
The first few nights of protests in New York City were marred by looting, unrest and violence inflicted both by and on police officers. Since then, protests have largely been peaceful.