- Innocent man violently assaulted by police despite no connection to alleged crime
- Officers escalated situation despite man’s compliance, highlighting abuse of power
- Incident exemplifies systemic police violence against Black and Brown communities
”And we hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the street, fo’ sho’…” -Kendrick Lamar
According to CBS News New York, a deeply disturbing viral video out of Brooklyn shows yet another egregious example of police violence. The incident unfolded inside a liquor store in Boerum Hill, where Timothy L. Brown, a home health aide and security guard, was suddenly confronted by NYPD detectives who believed he matched the description of a drug suspect because he was wearing green shorts.
Once again, cops showing a complete inability to properly identify suspects.
What followed, as captured in nearly eight minutes of excruciating footage, was a brutal and excessive use of force that is becoming all too familiar. Brown is seen being punched repeatedly and violently manhandled by officers who, despite his insistence that he wasn’t resisting, continued the assault. He later recalled being shoved and grabbed while officers barked commands, a blatant escalation that represents a clear abuse of power rather than any measured attempt at police work.
Even more infuriating, police later admitted they had the wrong person. Brown had no connection to the alleged drug activity, yet he still ended up bloodied, humiliated, and initially charged with resisting arrest. That charge was later dropped.
“I just thank God that I’m alive. That’s all I can say,” Timothy L. Brown told CBS News New York exclusively. “I know there’s a reason for everything and I know God’s watching and I want justice.”
Timothy’s mother Donna Brown was angry and emotional when speaking publicly about her son’s treatment.
“I was like, you know what? I’m going back to the precinct to make sure he’s gonna be OK, because I felt like the police was going to beat him up some more,” she said. “Could you look at a video of your child being dragged like that? It’s disgusting. It really is. It’s disgusting. And they do it all the time, to our Black and Brown people, all the time.”
City officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, condemned the officers’ actions as “extremely disturbing,”
The NYPD has placed the detectives on modified duty and launched an internal investigation but New Yorker’s and the viewing public will undoubtedly want more than that. The only acceptable response to this type of police brutality is employment termination and criminal charges, the same consequences that any citizen would face if they enacted violence that wasn’t in self-defense.
We will be watching this case very closely and will provide any new information that comes to light in the investigation.
