Hi there,

In this chaotic news cycle it may be tempting to tune out, but we hope you won’t—only an informed and engaged public can defend democracy. In these times of deep political polarization we need news that goes beyond play-by-play headlines, news that goes to the heart of each story by asking people to tell their own stories of abuses of power and injustice in their own words. If our journalism is important to you, please donate today. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Video of James Blake Arrest Released; Officer Had Past Complaints

HeadlineSep 14, 2015

In New York, police have released security camera footage showing an undercover officer slamming retired tennis star James Blake to the ground. The footage shows Blake, who is biracial, standing outside his Manhattan hotel when Officer James Frascatore approaches him, wraps an arm around his neck, tackles him down, digs his knee into his back and handcuffs him. Police say they mistakenly identified Blake as a suspect in a credit card fraud probe. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Chief William Bratton have personally apologized to Blake. Officer Frascatore has a pattern of excessive force complaints against him. He has been accused of punching and pummeling a man in his own driveway; punching a man in the face after stopping him for a broken tail light; punching a man outside a bodega and calling him a racial epithet; and manhandling a woman who told The New York Times, “He was really rough … It was akin to a kidnapping.” James Blake has called for Officer Frascatore to be fired.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top