American cop of New York got suspended after punching 14-year-old Black girl during after-school fight

By Edward Era Barbacena

An unnamed NYPD officer who was obviously white got suspended without pay after a viral video captured him punching a 14-year-old girl in the head during an after-school fight on Staten Island — prompting a swift rebuke from Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday.

During an unrelated appearance, Adams said he was “not pleased with what I saw on the video,” which was widely shared on social media.

The footage showed the cop pummeling the teen as he and another officer tried to break up a brawl that broke out near Edwin Markham Middle School at around 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

The officers were there on a foot post near Willowbrook Road and Forest Avenue and intervened in a fight between two girls, the NYPD said.

The video showed the ensuing melee — including the now-suspended cop punching the girl repeatedly in the head while other students tried to pull her away.

“There was a fight between two girls. We tried to intervene and it looks like one of the girls tried to stop us from intervening,” an NYPD spokesman said.

“They tried to handcuff one of the girls,” the spokesman said. “And someone was pulling at them.”

Two girls, 12 and 14, were arrested and later released without criminal charges as the probe continues, cops said.

The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau investigated, and the officer — who has not been publicly identified — was suspended without pay for up to 30 days, police sources said. 

A police source said the 14-year-old hit the police officer first, but acknowledged that the amount of force against the pre-teen was extreme.

“If you watch the body worn camera, it’s just complete mayhem,” the source said. “I guess the officer overreacted. She hits him first and then he responds by striking her more than once. That’s problematic.”

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch warned against a rush to judgement “based on a few seconds of video.”

“What is clear at this point is that these police officers were trying to break up a violent altercation when they themselves were assaulted,” Lynch said. “What is needed now is a thorough investigation of the entire circumstances, not just what has been posted online.”