After being accused of shouting anti-Muslim remarks while striking a guy until he was unconscious, a New York City police officer is facing hate crime charges.
In a statement released on Monday, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Riggs Kwong, 50, who was off duty at the time of the incident, is charged with assault as a hate crime, threatening as a hate crime, and aggravated harassment.
NY police officer punches a motorist
Investigators claimed that on Jan. 16, Kwong prevented a 32-year-old man from driving along a road. According to the DA statement, the individual then pursued Kwong and drove in front of his car.
The man stepped out of his vehicle to snap a photo of Kwong's license plate while he began videotaping himself yelling anti-Muslim remarks, according to the DA's office. He proceeded to utter racist obscenities, according to the police, and the guy smacked Kwong's vehicle's hood.
Prosecutors claimed Kwong then got out of his car and spit in the man's face after that. Kwong hit him numerous times, forcing him to tumble to the ground, according to the statement after the guy spit back at him. Kwong is accused of uttering anti-Muslim insults when the guy stood up and continued to pound him until he went to the ground and lost consciousness.
According to the statement, Kwong called 911 and told police he was an off-duty officer who threw the first punch. Surveillance footage shows Kwong punching the man first, according to the prosecution.
According to his department record, Kwong has worked with the NYPD for 18 years and was assigned to the 70th precinct. According to Edward Riley, spokesperson for the NYPD, he has been suspended without pay, as per USA Today.
New York off-duty police officer shot in the foot
While an off-duty New York Police Department officer was shot in the foot in West Harlem Saturday, it was the second time in the last week that an off-duty NYPD officer had been wounded in the foot.
During a press conference on Saturday, NYPD Chief of Housing Jeffrey Maddrey said the off-duty officer was shot as he departed a community center at the Manhattanville housing development about 4:30 pm after attending a vigil "for a very valued community member who died away."
According to Maddrey, two persons were spotted opening fire and it does not appear that the off-duty police fired his firearm in return. There have been no arrests made. As he supplied descriptions of the individuals to arriving NYPD police, the off-duty cop began to feel pain in his left foot, and it was revealed he'd been shot. According to authorities, he was transferred to a hospital for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.
The incident appears to be linked to a quarrel that occurred about two hours before the shooting in the community center's lobby. According to the reports, the officer was uninvolved in the fight. As New York City suffers with a wave of gun violence, the incident comes just days after another off-duty NYPD officer was shot during an attempted robbery in Queens while driving to work, as per Edition.
Crimes in New York continue to rise
In many sections of the country, crime, including shootings and killings, is on the rise. Murders have increased in several cities in 2021, including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis.
President Joe Biden visited New York City earlier this week to meet with Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams to discuss how federal and local law enforcement can work together to combat gun crime and invest more in putting more police officers on the beat in the city, which has seen a rise in violent crime.
In January, hundreds of uniformed police officers from throughout the country gathered in Manhattan to pay their respects to slain NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, who were shot and died while responding to a domestic violence call while responding to a domestic violence incident, Fox News reported.
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