"it's what this is all about", albany police officers questioned over arrest of two african-americans recording riot

ALBANY, NY – A couple who was video recording police and it led to their own arrest. A male was recording a protester ready to throw gasoline on a nearby police station when officers spotted him recording the incident. Officers then confronted the man and a woman and that’s when things escalated. After being arrested by police and the woman suffering a fractured arm, charges were dropped by the city.

Tonight you may have seen a video of me and my fiancé. We were arrested and charged with starting a riot. This is not true.To start off the police were there to arrest someone else. We were talking to this individual. As they are putting him in cuffs, we start recording with our phones and exerciseing our rights of freedom of speech. This ended in them assaulting us and violating our rights.I never experienced something like this before. Me and my fiancé are doing okay. Thank you everyone who was reaching out ❤️❤️❤️

Posted by Desiree Marcia on Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said her officers didn’t try to de-escalate the encounter.

“I want to acknowledge troubling video footage that was shared with my office by members of the community depicting an arrest that occurred yesterday in Albany’s South End,” she said. “The video footage does not appear to depict efforts by police to de-escalate a situation, nor it does it depict the sensitivity I expect from all city employees in this moment and every day.”

“I want to acknowledge that the Albany Police Department has performed valiantly responding to the events of the last several days. I believe the restraint and respect shown by our officers, many of whom were attacked with bricks, rocks, and incendiary devices, has been a model for the state and nation. Our resources have been stretched and we are all on edge because of the violence and destruction we have witnessed,” she added. “That being said, the treatment I witnessed in that video falls short of the standards I expect of our police department. After discussions with the Police Chief, all charges associated with this arrest will be dropped and this incident is being referred to the Office of Professional Standards.”

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