NYPD: Suspect in custody for cane attack on cops on Brooklyn Bridge
NEW YORK - Police have arrested a person they believe attacked NYPD officers with a cane on the Brooklyn Bridge this week, the department announced Thursday evening. The NYPD charged Chanice Reyes, 24, of Morris Plains, New Jersey, with two counts of assault on a police officer.
Before the arrest was announced, Chief of Department Terence Monahan, who was hurt in the incident, told FOX 5 NY on Thursday morning that the cane-wielding attacker is a member of an anarchist group that has infiltrated the Black Lives Matter movement.
The New York Post reported that cops arrested Reyes on Thursday morning when they investigated the smell of marijuana coming from her car, which was parked near City Hall. The Post shared a video of officers escorting Reyes out of a precinct house and into an ambulance. "I didn't attack nobody," she said, according to the video, as she entered the ambulance.
Four officers were injured during a confrontation with protesters as a peace march crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday morning.
"This was a violent incident," said Monahan during an interview with FOX 5 NY morning program, 'Good Day New York.' "My sergeant who works with me got hit in the head with a cane. He got eight staples put in his head. One of the lieutenants out on the walkway was attacked by an individual and has a broken orbital bone. I got punched a few times by him. We were able to get him. It was a brutal attack on the lieutenant on the bridge."
"They are part of this anarchist group that has been infiltrating the Black Lives movement since the beginning... this is what we've been dealing with since the first protest over the death of George Floyd,' Monahan said. "It's a legitimate movement that has been hijacked by this anarchist group. They are the ones who have been attacking our police officers, hiding behind the many many peaceful protesters out there."
The NYPD tweeted the video of the person swinging the cane. Another video shared by the department shows blood flowing from one officer's head and another staggering to an ambulance.
Police called for reinforcements, who came running. Cops arrested at least 37 people, the NYPD said.