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VIDEO: Youths and Police Clash After Fight Outside Barclays Center

By Janet Upadhye | September 18, 2014 11:51am
Fight Outside Barclays Center
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YouTube/Philko Classics

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — A dramatic video shows police trying to break up a massive fight among dozens of youths outside Barclays Center by dragging them apart by their legs and arms, pinning them to the ground and handcuffing several as some of the kids tried to tackle the officers.

The fight broke out during a BEAT Festival performance by the Bed-Stuy Veterans on a stage outside of the venue, prompting the cancellation of the show, according to police and witnesses.

The video, shot in the Daily News Plaza Monday about 4 p.m., captures one of the youths grabbing an officer by his legs and attempting to pick him up off the ground. Some members of the crowd are shown gathering around while others run from the scene.

It also shows several youths handcuffed while police attempt to separate the crowds.

Organizers and witnesses said the youths were not involved with the festival.

It is unclear what started the fight but the show was canceled after performer Justin Quinones attempted to stop the brawl from the stage, asking the teens and audience members to "calm down" repeatedly from the microphone as people began to run and scream.

A police officer was "roughed up" during the scuffle but not hospitalized and a 16-year-old girl was arrested for resisting arrest, police said.

Reactions to the police response to the fight were mixed.

Luna Eien-Anime, who was scheduled to perform after the Veterans, said the teens were "very rowdy and very disrespectful."

"It's only by reaction that [the police] acted the way they did," she said. "Still, I don't think police officers should put their hands on kids, they should handcuff them and be on their way."

Quinones called the response "brutal."

"Our show's ruined," he said. "We came out here for the kids and now we saw police fight kids."