A Venezuelan migrant holding his toddler was hit by a stun gun and punched in the face by police officers at a New York City migrant shelter in an act caught on video — and defended by the mayor as “appropriate.”
The video, obtained and published by The New York Times Tuesday, showed the moment two officers confronted Yanny Cordero, 47, at a city-run shelter in Jamaica, Queens, on Friday.
The clip showed two officers pin Cordero against closed elevator doors as he was holding his 1-year-old son.
One officer brought out a yellow stun gun and deployed it on the man, its trilling sound audible. Moments later, that same officer appeared to punch the man in the face.
A woman crying and screaming near Cordero appeared to be pulled away from Cordero after the punch and the child he was holding was also separated from him.
In front of Cordero and the officers were two officers in military garb and several spectators. The man filming the altercation was heard yelling in Spanish: “This is abuse!”
The two officers struggled to detain Cordero, then tried to pin him against a nearby desk. A third police officer entered the altercation and punched Cordero twice in the face, triggering more yelling and uproar from witnesses.
Three officers ultimately subdued Cordero onto the ground.
The man who filmed the interaction yelled, “Hey they’re hitting him! Hey don’t hit him, don’t hit him, don’t hit him, brother. That’s abuse. Where are the human rights?”
The clip ended with Cordero on the ground with officers around him.
The New York Police Department said it responded to the shelter late Friday around 11 p.m. over a dispute involving an intoxicated man “who was threatening staff members.”
Officers gave the Cordero multiple warnings and commands to give the child to someone else and he refused, police said.
However, Cordero told the Times that he hadn’t been drinking because he had to work the next day.
Cordero, who does not speak English, told the Times the…
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