A police officer caught on video apparently choking a protester at a raucous protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations in early 2018 reportedly had his vacation days taken away and was removed from the NYPD's strategic response group.
The New York Daily News obtained documents revealing that Numael Amador was disciplined for "using excessive force to clear a crowd of protesters" and "failing to report an incident in which force was used," following internal proceedings. The News reported that Amador lost 30 vacations days and was taken off the NYPD's strategic response group.
"This is the exact kind of case that we shouldn't have to rely on someone leaking it," Molly Griffard, a legal fellow at the Legal Aid Society, told Gothamist. "This is very concerning behavior. This officer was seen on camera choking peaceful protesters."
"The public has a right to know how officers patrolling our streets are being disciplined for this kind of egregious misconduct," Griffard added.
In a video posted days after the incident, Amador was seen in a video grabbing protesters' necks at the January 11th, 2018 demonstration, which was held in response to ICE detaining the immigration activist Ravi Ragbir. On that day, 18 people were arrested, including two city council members, Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez and then-Councilmember Jumaane Williams.
The Internal Affairs Bureau found Amador guilty in August 2018 after bringing excessive force charges against him in April of that year, the News reported. Amador is now patrolling the 101st Precinct in Far Rockaway, Queens, according to the paper.
The NYPD did not respond to Gothamist's request for comment, and declined to comment to the News, citing a section of New York State's civil rights law known as 50-a, which keeps police personnel records and decisions from being made public after the section was reinterpreted in 2016. Some state lawmakers and police union officials have clashed in recent months over whether 50-a protects NYPD officers from violence or unnecessarily shields police records from the public.
In 2015, Amador was among three officers accused of wrongfully arresting a man for filming police during the questioning of another man in a Bushwick park, according to a lawsuit filed in July 2015. Officers allegedly gave him a citation for being in the park illegally, though his summons were dismissed three months after the arrest. The case was dismissed and settled out of court for $20,000, according to court records and information compiled by the Cop Accountability Project.
After that lawsuit—and about six months before the anti-ICE protest—Amador was named a "hero of the month" by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Adams's spokesperson Jonah Allon defended the officer's award, saying he was honored "for a specific act of heroism, in which he provided information that led to the arrest of someone who assaulted Domingo Diego-Tapia, an immigrant Brooklynite, helping his family find justice in the midst of an unimaginably difficult time.”
"I hope the discipline the officer received will help him understand that he should conduct himself in a different manner as he maintains our safety and security as well as protester rights," Rodriguez, who represents Washington Heights and Inwood, told the News. "I personally witnessed the way he was handling the protesters that day and for me it was so disappointing to see how that officer was conducting himself."
This article has been updated with comment from the Brooklyn Borough President's office.
