Video shows NYC cop punching woman in the face, to the ground
An NYPD cop was caught on camera slugging a woman in the face — sending her flying backward to the pavement — after police say she attempted to interfere with the arrest of an attempted-murder suspect.
The shocking footage shows the scuffle break out on the sidewalk on West 136th Street near Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem late Tuesday afternoon as cops from the 32nd Precinct moved in to collar Elvin James, 22.
Tamani Crum, 19, in a green skirt and crop top, can be seen in the footage approaching the fracas and briefly talking to James before getting into it with an officer.
The cop, identified as Kendo Kinsey, pushes her away from the crowd. But the video then shows Crum lunging at Kinsey, pushing him in the shoulder before the officer decks her.
Bystanders can be heard screaming, “Why would you do that?” as she lies on the ground holding her face.
Officers then put Crum in handcuffs and escort her away.
The NYPD said in a statement that “while police were effecting the arrest multiple individuals on scene interfered by physically assaulting numerous officers. One officer sustained a minor injury to the head.”
Police charged Crum with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. But Wednesday night at Manhattan Criminal Court, she was only arraigned on the latter charge, a misdemeanor, and set free without bail.
Faith Harrell, 27, was also charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. A 26-year-old woman was given a Criminal Court summons for allegedly spitting at an officer, cops said.
James had been sought in connection to an attempted murder from earlier this month. During the arrest Tuesday, he was allegedly found to be in possession of a firearm and a controlled substance, the NYPD said.
Police charged him with attempted murder as a hate crime in the second-degree, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a firearm for allegedly shooting at a group of people on West 163rd Street near Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard at around 10 p.m. on Aug. 12. It was not immediately clear why the attempted murder charge was classified as hate-based.
The cop seen delivering the punch in the video had not been disciplined as of Wednesday afternoon, according to an NYPD spokesperson.
The footage drew outrage on social media and was quickly condemned by activists.
The New York City chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network condemned the video, saying the cop “brazenly punched an unarmed woman to the ground.”
“Records now public under a landmark 2020 law show Kinsey has had at least six complaints in the last 11 years, two of which have been substantiated,” the organization said of the cop.
The Detectives Endowment Association said in a statement it is considering a civil suit on behalf of the cop against Crum.
“When you assault a New York City Detective in order to interfere with an arrest of a man armed with a gun there are repercussions,” the group said.
