Actress Padma Lakshmi spoke out against the aggressive police response in New York against a group of Black Lives Matter protest.
They were in front of a restaurant when about a dozen New York police officers in riot gear and batons charged forward, knocking several to the ground.
According to the Daily Mail, the protesters were hiding among a group of restaurant patients dining outdoors.
Video showed the area outside Cowgirl restaurant in Manhattan’s West Village showed officers throwing protesters to the ground and shoving crowds away.
“The NYPD charged at and attacked peaceful protesters and pedestrians in the West Village tonight on 10th and Hudson,” Laksmi wrote on Twitter.
“Who is this protecting???” Laksmi asked. “This is unacceptable.”
The Daily Mail reports the protesters gathered there after police broke up a protest at nearby Washington Square Park.
Protesters reportedly ignored an order to disperse.
‘Please be advised that pedestrians are not permitted to walk in the street or roadway,’ the police could be heard saying.
Most in the video appeared to be on the sidewalk when police stormed them, but police were apparently upset they were blocking the sidewalk.
Arrests were made for disorderly conduct. A police spokesperson said the number arrested was likely in the dozens.
‘The police just came and stormed in and took our belongings … They swarmed us. We were peacefully assembled. There was nothing, no violence,’ one organizer said to the Daily Mail.
‘They’re terrorizing joy. We didn’t come here to do anything but to have fun,’ protester Shanee Grant said.
One tweet showed diners continuing to eat during the arrests.
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