An innocent Black couple, returning from a date, was forcibly removed from a subway car by the New York Police Department in a case of mistaken identity.
During a search for a “man with a gun,” 10 to 15 officers swarmed a subway car in Brooklyn late at night, just before 1 a.m. on February 24, reports the New York Post. During the search for the armed man, two people were forcibly removed from the train without being told why. They are now being summoned for “disorderly conduct.”
When the train, which was coming from Times Square, came to a stop at Atlantic Avenue for several minutes, a group of officers was seen standing outside the train, running up and down the platform looking into the cars, according to Gothamist.
An officer, who was standing on the platform, signaled for passengers to move out of the way before approaching the man they would then hold.
In a video posted to Twitter by witness Neely Grobani, officers are seen removing the man and woman from the train car, while the couple was shouting in confusion.
"A few cops entered the car and grabbed the young man I was sitting across from … he said 'What did I do? What's going on?'" Grobani told NBC New York.
— Neely Grobani (@Neelstarr) February 24, 2020
Grobani said the couple looked “cutesy and cuddly” before the incident.
“What are you doing, what are you doing? We just finished a date,” the man can be heard saying.
The woman can be heard telling officers to get off of her as she was trying to follow the man to figure out what was going on. The officers can be heard, in turn, telling her to “relax” and “be still.”
"I can’t imagine anyone sleeping on the subway late at night and is forcibly removed would have behaved any other way," Grobani said.
The man continuously asked officers why he was being held and what was going on, but there was no response or clarification given. The couple was held on the platform, several feet away from each other, with their hands behind their backs.
NYPD spokeswoman Mary Frances O'Donnell said the officers were responding to a 911 call about a "man with a gun on the 2 Line train at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn." The man they detained reportedly matched the description given by the caller.
"Believing the man had a gun, officers removed the male from the train," O'Donnell said. "This male was in the company of a woman who attempted to interfere with police operations and she was removed from the train as well."
During the incident, the train was stopped for at least 15 minutes. Many witnesses pulled out their phones to record. Grobani said she saw the man and woman being searched on the platform.
Michael Sisitzky, lead policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the chaos could have been avoided if the officers told the couple the reason for their removal.
"It's not unusual the way that this played out, but it's unfortunate that the lack of information often leads to the type of escalation that was evident on the video," Sisitzky told Gothamist. "In situations like this and countless others, the emphasis should be on officers to de-escalate encounters."
The couple was released, but not before being given a summons for “disorderly conduct.”
According to NBC 4 New York, the man said his girlfriend has had nightmares about the incident and he is still waiting for the NYPD to apologize.
