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The New York Police Department is getting some negative attention after an incident on October 25 where, due to an increased crackdown surrounding fare hoppers on the NYC subway, police swarmed an unarmed 19-year-old on the train, drawing guns and causing a panic among passengers.
A video of the arrest, captured by a bystander, has gone viral on Twitter.
The video was posted to Twitter by Elad Nehorai, who also wrote:
"If you can't see, the reason everyone moved was because all the police had taken out their guns and aimed at him."
The young man, 19-year-old Adrian Napier, was found to have no weapons before police arrested him for fare evasion. He ran from police at the previous station and jumped onto a subway car, which was held at the next stop so he could be taken into custody.
After the video of nearly a dozen police mobbing the unarmed teen went viral, the NYPD issued a statement via Twitter claiming they had spoken with a credible witness who said the 19-year-old was "brandishing a gun."
Despite this statement, however, many bystanders were understandably disturbed by the scene.
My sons were in this train car. My 10-year-old came home inconsolable. How do we, as parents, even begin to speak t… https://t.co/5LctyRO9h1— Yolanda Sangweni 🌱 (@Yolanda Sangweni 🌱) 1572109403.0
Nehori told The Washington Post:
"After that one policeman took his gun out, two or three more took them out. For a moment, they were kind of pointing guns at everyone who was in that vicinity."
The city's Civilian Complaint Review Board also reached out to Nehori on Twitter with tips on how to file a complaint.
@jessfauve @PopChassid Hi @PopChassid. Here through @jessfauve. The CCRB takes allegations of police misconduct ser… https://t.co/yUOGGhJAg7— NYC CCRB (@NYC CCRB) 1572190372.0
Nehori continued writing about the incident in a thread, showing his perspective.
Everyone on Twitter seems to agree the increased policing of fare evasion has had mostly negative side effects.
In the NYC subway, there has been such an influx of new cops - nominally to fight fare evasion - it seems to have l… https://t.co/ZjEgKQRoDP— Rebecca Kavanagh (@Rebecca Kavanagh) 1572165369.0
This is the Giuliani mentality at work here from the 1990's brutality of the NYPD. The police are still as crazy a… https://t.co/kbEzjonpU1— janetmoulton (@janetmoulton) 1572194942.0
This is what hopping the train gets now. Count the amount of police then multiply by the hourly wage of each and tg… https://t.co/eVSCeZgdRd— Ayishagisel (@Ayishagisel) 1572226404.0
Surely we can all agree that a dozen officers with guns drawn aren't necessary to arrest a young man who evaded a $3 fare?