The founder of Black Lives Matter Greater NY was arrested in a Bronx courthouse after being involved in an on-camera confrontation with a police officer.
Hank Newsome was arrested Tuesday after berating an officer inside the courthouse.
Newsome, who is 6ft 6in, can be seen towering over the officer, yelling: ‘Do you think I’m afraid of you? You must be crazy!’
Still facing the officer, he says: ‘You’re a bastard! See how I’m totally with you? You are a vagina! A fucking vagina!’
As he is being led away, Newsome can again be seen shouting obscenities inside the courtroom, which ends in a shoving fight, according to social media footage.
Newsome can be seen towering over the officer, shouting: ‘Do you think I’m afraid of you? You must be crazy!’
As he is being led away, Newsome can again be seen shouting obscenities inside the courtroom, which ends in a shoving fight, according to social media footage.
Officials told CBS that Newsome was detained and issued three citations for disorderly conduct and obstruction of government administration.
When court officials repeated his name, it was revealed that he had not returned to court to respond to the subpoenas he received years earlier.
Before being released, he was taken to an arraignment court where his previous citations were adjudicated and vacated.
Outside the courthouse, Newsome said, “I’m not going to sit here and say I didn’t speak up, I care a lot.”
‘Yes, I spoke. I care a lot. A man was hit in the head with a cooler and died.
Newsome had been referring to the case he had been watching in court, which involved Sgt. Erik Durán, accused of killing a man after throwing a water cooler at him while he was fleeing a drug bust.
The police officer has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Eric Duprey during the incident that took place last August.
Sergeant Duran was working undercover in the Bronx Narcotics Division at the time, conducting a buy-and-bust operation on Aqueduct Avenue.
According to police, Duprey sold drugs to the plainclothes officer, who then attempted to arrest him.
Officials told CBS that Newsome was detained and issued three citations for disorderly conduct and obstruction of government administration.
Sergeant Erik Duran, 36, was charged with manslaughter in court earlier this year after he allegedly killed a man with a water cooler.
Eric Duprey, 30, died after being hit with a thrown cooler by NYPD Sergeant Erik Duran, 36, on August 23.
Durán was working undercover in the Bronx Narcotics Division at the time, conducting a buy-and-bust operation on Aqueduct Avenue.
According to police, Duprey sold drugs to the plainclothes officer, who then attempted to arrest him.
The fatal impact of the refrigerator, which was full of soda cans, caused the suspect to lose control of his scooter and hit a parked jeep.
The father of three fell to the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Councilwoman Vickie Paladino criticized footage of the incident between Newsome and the police officer on social media.
Paladino posted on
As court officials recited his name, it was revealed that he had not returned to court to respond to the subpoenas he received years earlier.
‘The use of lethal force should also not be ruled out if Tasers are ineffective and the situation escalates.
‘It is beyond absurd that our police have to put up with this. Showing even a hint of deference toward this kind of abject hostility only invites more and makes the job that much more dangerous.
‘Criminals used to understand that actions like this crossed a line and would lead to bad outcomes.
‘Now they know there are no consequences, so they push even harder. “It is a very dangerous game, facilitated by progressives who applaud chaos.”
Newsome has a law degree and was a project manager at a law firm before becoming a full-time activist.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com in 2020, he said BLM aimed to develop a highly trained ‘military’ arm to head-on challenge police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.