NYPD cops toss Palestinian flag, hoist American flag at City College
NEW YORK — Cops including two high-ranking NYPD officials pulled down and tossed away a Palestinian flag and proudly hoisted an American flag after evicting protesters encamped at City College in Harlem, video posted by the department shows.
Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner for Operations, posted the video early Wednesday.
In the video, one plainclothes officer jumps up and rips down the Palestinian flag then hands it to a second cop who tosses it to the ground. Daughtry and Tarik Sheppard, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for public information, then participate in hooking an American flag to the pole in its place.
The moment appears to have been captured by an NYPD photographer as credentialed media were blocked from accessing the encampment.
At the end of the video, Daughtry and Sheppard smile and pose for the camera next to the flag pole.
“An incredible scene and proud moment as we have assisted @CityCollegeNY in restoring order on campus, culminating in raising Old Glory once again on their campus flagpole,” Daughtry tweeted alongside the video.
Palestinian flags have been raised during protests that have unfolded at City College, Columbia University, NYU and campuses elsewhere in recent weeks.
After cops cleared the encampment at Columbia on Tuesday night, they turned to City College and cleared an encampment there, making multipe arrests for lower level charges like trespassing.
The video of the flag raising aligns with a trend in recent months of police brass aggressively targeting critics and promoting their own views on social media.
In March, Daughtry and NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell criticized Daily News columnist Harry Siegel over a column on subway crime. In early April, Chell called out Council Member Tiffany Caban for supporting Olayemi Olurin, a commentator and lawyer, who criticized the mayor on a radio show.
“If you want change, vote the change you seek,” Chell wrote.
City law bars government officials from using their official social media handles to electioneer or perform activity that’s political in nature.
“Chief Chell used his official account to repeatedly praise the mayor, who is a candidate for office, and concluded by urging everyone to vote,” Caban told The News. “That is explicitly prohibited conduct by an NYPD official.”
