A police lieutenant bloodied by a tossed brick at Friday night’s George Floyd protest in Brooklyn made light of his injuries on social media — and gave some insight into the chaos as the protest turned violent.
“So … my face is a brick magnet,” quipped New York Police Department Lt. Rob Corbett in a Facebook post he later took down.
“My head hurts and it’s a little hard to talk,” Corbett said.
An NYPD lieutenant sported a bloody face after a violent clash with George Floyd protesters.
“So… my face is a brick magnet,” quipped NYPD Lt. Rob Corbett. “… My head hurts and it’s a little hard to talk.”https://t.co/VpCVqlBUUu
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 30, 2020
He was one of a number of cops injured as they tried to keep the peace Friday at protests over Floyd’s death in custody of Minneapolis police officers. In Brooklyn, sometimes violent demonstrations occurred outside the Barclays Center and later at the 88th Precinct in Clinton Hill.
Corbett suffered a splintered tooth when the brick hit him in the face, and needed nine stitches to close the deep gashes he sustained.
Corbett, a lawyer assigned to the NYPD’s legal department, said officers never caught the person who assaulted him, who he said was part of a “riotous mob.”
“They were throwing things … when it was water bottles it wasn’t too bad, but when it became glass we charged and started locking them up,” he said. “Someone hurled a brick and that was that.”
Another cop, identified by sources as Deputy Inspector John Mastronardi, commanding officer of the 75th Precinct in East New York, also lost some teeth as he tussled with protesters who tried to lay siege to the 88th Precinct station house and set at least two police vehicles on fire.
Mastronardi made headlines earlier this month when he was admonished by his bosses for failing to wear a mask while dealing with the public.
NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Saturday that some attending Friday’s protests planned to injure cops even before they stepped foot in Brooklyn.
NYC protest over George Floyd’s death in Minnesota
“Civil disobedience is key here,” Shea said. “We fully support the right to protest and we take great pride how we conduct ourselves and how people are allowed to express their concerns. But coming to an assembly premeditated, with loaded firearms, with bricks, with Molotov cocktails, is the farthest thing possible from civil disobedience.”
“It didn’t matter if they were white or black — they were attacked because of their uniform,” Shea said.
Corbett is also president of Brotherhood for the Fallen-NYC, a non-profit group that sends NYPD officers to funerals for fallen cops throughout the country.
Police unions also spoke up against Friday’s violence.
“Those who attack cops are blinded by hate — they don’t see the person behind the shield,” the Police Benevolent Association said on Twitter.
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