A senior officer with the New York Police Department appeared to accidentally douse himself with pepper spray as cops pushed their way into a protest on the Manhattan Bridge over the weekend, RadarOnline.com has learned.
A crowd of more than 100 demonstrators marched from Brooklyn to Manhattan on Saturday evening calling for peace in Palestine after Israel launched an attack on Rafah, a metropolitan area in the Southern Gaza Strip.
Videos and photos on social media show the protesters linking arms as they made their way across the bridge, chanting "Rafah!" and blocking traffic on the major thoroughfare that crosses the East River.
When a swarm of NYPD officers arrived from the Manhattan side, some in riot gear, 150 protesters were taken into custody, according to New York Daily News.
In one video posted to X that had been viewed more than half a million times on Monday, an officer can be seen in a struggle with several demonstrators before pulling what appears to be a can of pepper spray from his pocket. Moments later, he turns away with his eyes tightly shut before the video ends.
The New York Post identified the officer as NYPD Assistant Chief James McCarthy and reported that other officers tended to his injuries at the scene, pouring water into his eyes.
Photos obtained by the outlet show McCarthy's red face and shut eyes as fellow officers led him away from the bridge.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry posted a videoon X showing an aerial view of the protest blocking lanes of traffic, which he called "a public safety hazard."
"This footage gives us a bird’s-eye view of our police officers placing individuals under arrest, restoring order, and keeping NYC moving," Daughtry wrote.
"The NYPD will always protect freedom of speech and protest, but we will not stand for lawlessness!" he added.
The demonstration was held as a National Day of Action ahead of Nakba Day on May 11, which marked the anniversary of Israel's establishment in 1948 that displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
“What we are seeing is history repeating itself with the destruction of homes, the mass displacement of people, the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians,” one of the Manhattan Bridge protesters, Nas Issa, 26, told New York Daily News.
“And so that’s why we called this march for today, both to honor the ‘Nakba’ but also to call for an end to the ongoing genocide,” Issa said.