NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Text messages between NYPD officers responding to a Black Lives Matter protest in the Bronx in June 2020 were made public on Wednesday as part of a lawsuit accusing the department of misconduct.
The messages reveal a controversial approach to handling the George Floyd demonstration on June 4 in Mott Haven, with some officers appearing eager to make arrests and use force.
The chain of texts began on the night of June 3, 2020, when then-Captain Julio Delgado sent a message to a group chat of officers stating, "We are looking for arrests. So you this large group turns... can we plz play too?”
In another message the following day, Detective Jessica Lopez wrote to Delgado, saying, "Kick their a** tonight Capt!! Most of all stay safe."
Another message read, “LET'S HAVE FUN AND BE SAFE.”
The text messages were made public after a federal judge ordered the city to release them in response to a lawsuit filed by artist Shellyne Rodriguez, who claimed that officers used brutal force against her as they shoved her into a gate and punched her in the stomach, among other things.
The city initially argued that the disclosure of the text messages could cause embarrassment or harassment to Delgado but failed to convince the court to keep them confidential.
Reacting to the messages, retired NYPD officer Jillian Snider, now an adjunct lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told 1010 WINS, "I'm going to read that as they were looking to make sure they got the extremists off scene as quickly as possible."
Snider acknowledged that the texts could give an unfavorable image of the NYPD but emphasized that police officers often have their own jargon that may not be familiar. "There was nothing overwhelmingly alarming that I saw," Snider said, adding that officers were "trying to keep it as light as they could while also removing agitators from the peaceful protests."
The officers involved in the text chain, including Delgado and Lopez, were members of the Strategic Response Group, a unit responsible for response to protests and other events in the city.
The city has already agreed to pay at least $21,500 to each of the more than 200 demonstrators who were arrested, detained, or subjected to force by police during the protest, according to a proposed federal court settlement. The protesters faced aggressive tactics by the NYPD during the demonstration.
The NYPD has not made any official comments, nor has the city's Law Department.