A New York City police officer who was filmed shoving a protester in Brooklyn is set to be charged with misdemeanor assault, harassment and menacing, The New York Times reports.
Vincent D'Andraia was filmed violently pushing the victim, Dounya Zayer, to the ground before calling her a "stupid f*cking bitch," in May. D'Andraia has since turned himself in at the 84th Precinct Station house. He was suspended without pay last week alongside another officer involved in a separate incident, with investigators concluding they had both violated department policies. The second officer has yet to be named publicly, but he was reportedly recorded taking off a man's mask to pepper-spray him in the face.
In a post on Twitter following the incident, Zayer shared a video from the hospital in which she broke down what happened. "In no way was I aggressive towards this police officer, and I did not even get in his physical space," she said at the time. "He was walking in my direction, told me to move, and because I didn't move out of his way in time he threw me out of the way/
She also shared a video in which she was approached by D'Andraia, who proceeded to throw her phone.
Despite numerous videos showing the incident, a police source told the New York Post that Zayer was an instigator. "That girl is all over the internet," the source said. "She gets in people's faces to get a rise out of them. Look at her YouTube. If you really watch the video, she faked it and rolled."
