Crime & Safety
Animal Rights Activist Sucker Punches Horse Carriage Driver: Police
A video shows the man approach the carriage driver and shove him from behind.
CENTRAL PARK, NY — An animal right activist was arrested Saturday when his protest got violent. Eddie Sullivan, 44, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault after shoving a horse-drawn carriage driver talking to a potential customer, an NYPD spokesman told Patch.
The sucker-punch occurred around 1:11 p.m. Saturday in Central Park, police said. Sullivan approached the carriage driver from behind and struck him once, police said. The victim, a 55-year-old man, suffered a small laceration to his hand and refused medical attention, police told Patch
A video of the scuffle was posted to Instagram.
Find out what's happening in Central Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"These horses are forced to work 9-14 hours a day sometimes," Sullivan said before approaching the carriage driver.
The driver is shown talking to two women, one of whom gets into the carriage, before Sullivan comes up from behind and shoves him.
Find out what's happening in Central Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Although the video's description labels Eddie Sullivan a "volunteer" with animal rights group NYCLASS, a spokeswoman for the group told Patch that Sullivan is not a member of their organization and that they do not condone his behavior.
The full video can be seen below:
NYCLASS anti-carriage volunteer Eddie Sullivan sucker-punches a carriage driver when the RARAs' shouted lies fail to #emptythecarriages He was arrested and charged with assault. Violence is not protected by the First Amendment. @nyclass #nyclass #crime #violence #assault #menacing #nypd Approximately 11:45 AM on Saturday, October 8, 2016.
A video posted by NYC Carriages (@nyccarriages) on Oct 9, 2016 at 9:58am PDT
Photo: Screengrab from Instagram video.
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