CIVIC CENTER — Police are looking for six people who they say fought with two officers on the Brooklyn Bridge during the arrest of a CUNY professor at the Eric Garner protest march Saturday night, according to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
A group of protesters — three men and three women — attacked Legal Affairs Bureau lieutenants Patrick Sullivan and Phillip Chan after the officers attempted to arrest poet and part-time professor Eric Linsker, 29, while he tried to throw a garbage bin from the bridge’s pedestrian path onto the roadway below, Bratton said during a press conference at One Police Plaza Monday night.
“I want to publicly applaud the actions of Lieutenant Chan and Lieutenant Sullivan for the actions that they took that evening, putting themselves at great risk, great risk that ultimately ended up in them being attacked by that group of agitators on the bridge,” Bratton said. “We do not take attacks on our police officers lightly, never have, never will.”
The officers first spotted Linsker with the garbage can at about 7:30 p.m. on the Manhattan side of the bridge’s walkway, according to Deputy Chief William Aubrey, and grabbed him before he could toss it over a railing where police had been walking below.
When Chan first approached Linsker, a man with a mustache grabbed the officer and then elbowed him. Chan then tried to pursue the man who hit him but came back to help arrest Linsker.
Three other women, one with a red scarf and one with a multi-colored skirt, grabbed both officers while they again tried to arrest Linsker, according to Aubrey.
Both officers continued to follow Linsker down the pathway.
Linsker then punched Sullivan in the face, knocking him to the ground, according to police.
Another protester then kicked Sullivan while he was on the ground still trying to grab Linsker, Aubrey said.
Another man then punched Chan twice, according to Aubrey.
Chan suffered a broken nose and both officers had contusions throughout their bodies.
Police said they will announce a reward amount on Tuesday for information leading to the group's arrest.
Other City Council Members also condemned the attacks on the officers.
"We are deeply troubled by reports of the aberration of a small group of protesters who violently assaulted two police officers during Saturday's march across the Brooklyn Bridge, especially since the incident comes on the heels of other reported police assaults,” said council members Jumaane Williams and Vanessa Gibson in a joint statement. “We offer our prayers for rapid healing and comfort to the officers and their families.”
