An impassioned NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea on Thursday demanded jail time for the alleged anarchists busted for causing mayhem in Manhattan on Tuesday night over the police shooting death of Daunte Wright — including graffiti messages like “Kill cops.”
Five men and three women — 20-and-30-somethings from every borough except Staten Island, and one from Westchester County, at least some from the anarchist group Black Bloc — were arrested on the Upper East Side around 10:15 p.m., cops said.
“I’m past asking,” Shea said at a late-morning press conference. “I’m actually demanding at this point. They need to go to jail. They need to be held accountable. They were arrested for misdemeanors. They cannot be not prosecuted. We are going to follow these arrests….[For a] misdemeanor in New York State, you’re eligible for up to a year in jail. Well, I can’t think of anyone that deserves a year in jail better than that.”
They were hit with charges including assault on a police officer, rioting, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration and possession of a graffiti instrument, authorities said.
Some of the group allegedly spray-painted “Kill cops,” “F–k the cops,” and “ACAB” — which stands for “All cops are bastards” — on walls, doors and cars, including a Range Rover.
Demonstrators march to protest the police shooting death of Daunte Wright in Lower Manhattan, NYC on April 12, 2021. Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock“You had an incident on 76/77 Street, Fifth to Madison, last night where a number of arrests were made,” Shea said. “You had windows broken, at least one window broken. You had people’s cars graffitied. You had people spray painting “kill cops?”
“Kill cops?” he said. “This is why we have memorials for cops. Because, as I’ve said, and you’re probably tired of me saying that, but I’m not going to stop saying it — words matter and spreading hate.”
Among those arrested was Finbarr Sionim, 23, of the Upper East Side, cops said.
He was previously arrested in 2018 outside the Metropolitan Republican Club, where he was protesting a speech by right-wing provocateur Gavin McInnes, cops said.
He and two others were freed without bail on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor assault.
The remaining seven are Mikael Bucknavage, 23, of Mamaroneck; Lawrence Tandol, 24, of Marble Hill; Theodora Williams, 22, of Washington Heights; Kimberly Banks, 22, of Flushing; Eli Sairs, 35, and Katrina Clark, 30, both of Bushwick; and Christian Valencia, 26, of East Flatbush, cops said.
