Gay man left beaten, bloodied and with a broken arm at the hands of police for attending peaceful Black Lives Matter protest
Jason Rosenberg (Twitter)
A gay man said he was beaten and arrested by police in New York City after he took part in a Black Lives Matter protest.
LGBT+ activist Jason Rosenberg posted a video on Twitter showing the extensive injuries he received after protesting outside New York’s Stonewall Inn against the killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade and the many other Black people who have died at the hands of police.
In the video, Rosenberg said he had just been released by police following an arrest, and showed viewers his dislocated arm and bloodied appearance.
“I’m going to go to the ER. I was trying not to at first but I definitely need to go to the ER,” Rosenberg said.
Peaceful Stonewall Inn Black Lives Matter protest ‘escalated’ into police violence.
Rosenberg said he and others were “peacefully protesting” when they “started to see some escalation”.
“We sort of kept moving, and then a lot of us linked arms in solidarity and civil disobedience, which is not resisting arrest, and we were all thrown to the ground,” he said.
“I was beaten on all sides, as you can kind of see. Between a baton and some punches, and I was on the concrete, so that’s sort of where I’m at.
I’m in Red Hook. #DefundThePolice https://t.co/cxa6UVQ1FX
— Jason Rosenberg (@mynameisjro) June 3, 2020
“I have a feeling I’ll be in the ER for a while, but I’m OK, I’m alive and I’m good.”
Rosenberg said that he was referred to as “the bloody one” by police when they handcuffed him.
“But I’m fine,” he added.
Tony McDade you were not murdered in cold blood by the police in vain.
Rosenberg went to an emergency room after posting his video where he was given nine staples in his head and was told he had “a bad arm break”.
He added: “We were peaceful. We linked our arms in civil disobedience, not resisting arrest. We were beaten. F**k anyone who tries to say otherwise. Tony McDade you were not murdered in cold blood by the police in [vain].”
More than 2,000 protesters have been arrested in New York alone since the death of George Floyd prompted widescale demonstrations.
Floyd was killed when now former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest.
The incident was recorded and subsequently went viral, prompting days of fierce protest against the racism endured by Black people in the United States and across the world.
Elsewhere a Black trans man Tony McDade was shot dead by a white police officer in North Florida on May 27 – and police have not yet even released the name of the officer who killed him.
PinkNews has contacted the New York Police Department for comment.
