As dozens of NYPD officers stood guard outside Derrick Ingram's Hell's Kitchen building on Friday afternoon, the 28-year-old activist was pacing his apartment, eating cashews.
"I appreciate everyone showing up to support me," he said into a front-facing phone camera, addressing an Instagram Live audience of about 650. "I can literally hear y'all chanting, which is pretty cool."
He tilted the camera toward the street below, where a growing group of protesters had gathered, following an online call-out that the NYPD had targeted another Black Lives Matter organizer for arrest. Roughly 30 cops were standing outside the apartment, many of them in full riot gear. Two police helicopters circled overhead.
According to Ingram, members of the NYPD's warrant squad and K9 unit arrived at his door at 7 a.m. on Friday, claiming they had a warrant for his arrest. Ingram refused to let them inside. More cops arrived — some of them members of the NYPD's Strategic Response Group — setting up on the street, and in the empty apartment across from his own.
“We’re giving you the opportunity to come out and talk to us rather than us breaking your door and forcing our way in," a voice can be heard saying in one of Ingram's videos, as someone bangs repeatedly at the door. "You know we’re not going to go away."
Another person can be heard talking about why the police are banging on the door.
"There was an incident a while ago involving a police officer, correct?" the voice said. "No," Ingram replied. [Update: On Saturday, the police said that Ingram allegedly yelled into an NYPD officer's ear with a megaphone, during a protest in June. Ingram has turned himself in to police.]
In a statement to Gothamist, Sergeant Jessica McRorie, an NYPD spokesperson, said the officers were attempting to "make an apprehension for an assault on a police officer." She didn't say what units were involved, whether the NYPD had a warrant for the arrest, or when the alleged assault occurred. "At this time the investigation is active and ongoing," she added.
Ingram is co-founder of the Warriors in the Garden, a new youth-led group with a focus on peaceful protest and online organizing. Ingram's Hell's Kitchen apartment has served as a meeting place for the organization, as recounted in a BuzzFeed profile last month.
"He's one of the most important pieces we have on the board," said John Acosta, who showed up on Friday to support Ingram. "They're trying to demoralize the whole movement."
Activists said the arrest was part of a disturbing pattern of recent police intimidation against young protest organizers. Last month, plainclothes NYPD officers were seen on video dragging 18-year-old activist Nikki Stone into an unmarked van. Those officers were also part of the NYPD's Warrant Section, which has a lengthy history of aggressive tactics and alleged misconduct.
On Friday morning, police arrested Yacine Diallo, a 21-year-old member of Warriors in the Garden. He was charged with obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest. Witnesses claimed the arrest was unprovoked.
Addressing his Instagram audience on Friday, Ingram said he was weighing whether to surrender to police voluntarily in order to avoid a possible escalation.
"They're going to mind-fuck me, deprive me of food and sleep," he said. "I'm staying my Black ass at home."
A few minutes later, an attorney at the scene announced that the officers had been pulled from the scene. The crowd cheered, and Ingram turned off his camera.
A little before 2 p.m., Ingram climbed into a waiting SUV and drove off, as the crowd chanted "Black lives matter."
"This is what community looks like," Acosta said after the police had left. "All together, here to support our brother."
