By John Annese
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — More than 30 people were arrested after cops and Black Lives Matter marchers clashed at City Hall Park Monday night.
The demonstration, which started at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, met a phalanx of police officers after they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and got to City Hall Park. The event, dubbed the Black Liberation March on social media, was organized to commemorate Martin Luther King Day.
An NYPD spokesman said demonstrators threw bottles and vandalized property. One NYPD captain was struck in the helmet with a bottle, police said.
Cops made more than 30 arrests; 10 officers sustained injuries, the spokesman said.
Videos posted on Twitter show parts of the clash, with officers lining Centre St., ordering protesters off the roadway.
Shortly after, witnesses say police ordered marchers onto the sidewalk, only to plunge into the crowd and make arrests.
“They definitely charged multiple times,” said Egypt Staley, 22, of Washington Heights. “Some people were just being grabbed off the sidewalk. Some people were not even facing them.”
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One video shows protesters on the sidewalk and police standing in the middle of Centre St. while a recording warns the demonstrators if they remain on the roadway they will be arrested.
“They were really violent. Cops were pushing, shoving folks, pummeling people, tackling them,” said Helen Guzman, 30.
Staley also accused the officers of kettling the protesters. “They surrounded us. People were trying to leave. Some people were like, ‘How can I can I even leave?’ ” Staley said.
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