Mayor and NYPD Intimidating the NYC Council to Reverse Chokehold Law

Pressured by Mayor de Blasio and NYPD Union officials; the New York City Council, led by Council Member Donovan Richards,Chair of the Public Safety Committee, is poised to consider amending the recently passed NYPD Chokehold Law that went into effect in July.

The law makes use of a chokehold, or chest / diaphragm compression by a law-enforcement officer a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to a year in prison.

We must resist any compromise to the NYPD Chokehold Law. We are fighting hard for defunding and fundamental change in policing. This law begins to address all the deadly constraints that cause the inability of a person to breathe. The compression of someones’ diaphragm directly affects their ability to breathe.

The proposed amendment to the law will insert “reckless” in regards to diaphragm compression and gives the police a way out.

The people took to the streets in the tens of thousands to make sure police brutality is put in check. The nation witnessed a police officer kill George Floyd with his knee on his neck. He could not breathe.