Protests Erupt In NYC After Police Crackdown on Fare Evasion

Earlier this week, an unarmed black teenager was arrested on the New York City metro after jumping the turnstile to avoid paying the $2.75 fare. Swarms of officers rushed the young man and one brandished his gun. Now, protests are breaking out across the city claiming the incident was an act of excessive force and an example of police targeting lower-income areas to make arrests on those who can’t afford the subway fee. 

Many have responded to the incident, including presidential-hopeful Julian Castro who wrote on Twitter, “This man didn’t pay his subway fare—but is tackled by at least ten officers in a crowded station. Officers should be working to deescalate—not putting dozens of lives at risk over $2.75.”

The NYPD’s transit Twitter account responded writing, “What the video doesn’t show is a credible witness alerting our officers to a man brandishing a gun. When officers approached the man in question, he fled into a subway station and onto a train to escape. Minutes later, officers at the next station took him into custody.”

Many are calling the response untrue. One user wrote, “NYPD has used this exact tweet multiple times to respond to commentary about their forceful and militarized arrest of a fare-beater as if it somehow makes pointing a firearm into a crowded subway train without having actually seen a man brandishing a gun acceptable police action.”