The NYPD has released the video of the arrest of James Blake, a former tennis star who was was mistakenly identified by a cooperating witness as a suspect in a stolen credit credit card ring. You can clearly see the undercover officer taking Blake to the ground, but there’s no audio so we don’t know exactly what was said to Blake during the arrest:
NYPD releases video of James Blake being arrested. pic.twitter.com/OD4HQINlJy
— Ryan Ruggiero (@RyanRuggiero) September 11, 2015
And here’s the actual suspect:
#jamesblake & the actual suspect the #NYPD was seeking, via @nypost: http://t.co/yfaToXOB5y pic.twitter.com/EPuwSiVGsq
— Azi™ (@Azi) September 11, 2015
Blake isn’t claiming that race was a factor in the arrest, but he does say that excessive force was used:
NYC "is very lucky James Blake is such a class act" says @NYPost editorial–he's arguing excessive force not race http://t.co/a8GwTybCaT
— Julia Vitullo-Martin (@JuliaManhattan) September 11, 2015
The arrest is still under investigation by the NYPD. Police Commissioner Bratton has apologized to Blake and the officer involved has been suspended:
NYPD Commissioner makes public apology to James Blake, says offending officer is now on administrative duties, his gun and badge removed
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) September 10, 2015
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Blake does not accept the apology, however:
https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/642410043262930944
And we’re seeing reports that the officer involved in Blake’s arrest is fighting other excessive force complaints as well:
NY Cop who assaulted Blake, on force 4yrs, been sued 4x for "excessive force during false arrests." #captainrenault http://t.co/RvEzONrbxc
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) September 11, 2015
We’ll obviously be hearing more about this in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned…