NYPD Lieutenant Concussed At Protest Near Union Square, Cops Say

UNION SQUARE, MANHATTAN — Cops are looking for two people who attacked officers while they were making arrests during a protest near Union Square earlier this week.

Police released video Thursday of the chaotic scene Sunday night outside the Strand Bookstore on Broadway, where hundreds of New Yorkers had gathered for one of several protests spurred by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

During the demonstration, police said a lieutenant and an officer were taking people into custody when one of the suspects hit the lieutenant in the back of the head with a stick. Just moments later, a second person threw a brick at the cops, hitting the police officer in the head, according to police and video.

The encounter seems to happen at the same corner where an officer is now under investigation for pulling his gun on a crowd of protesters, though it's unclear whether the same officer was involved in both incidents. The video of the cop pointing his gun at a crowd is said to be taken around 10 p.m.

It is one of several incidents of police misconduct that is under investigation by both the NYPD and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The lieutenant was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Pavilion to be treated for a concussion. The officer hit in the head with the brick was not seriously injured because the brick hit his helmet, police said.

Anyone with information in regard to the identities of these individuals is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.