With one tweet on Friday, comedian Kumail Nanjiani eviscerated the notion that police violence against peaceful protesters is the product of a “bad apple” or two.
“The Lovebirds” actor used a videotaped incident in Buffalo, New York, on Thursday as the perfect example. Police out to enforce a curfew during anti-racism demonstrations shoved a 75-year-old man to the pavement. He audibly cracked his head and began bleeding from his ear as another officer ordered cops to keep walking. The man was later hospitalized in serious condition.
But Buffalo police said in a statement that the man “tripped & fell,” a claim that defies what is seen in now-viral video of the encounter.
Wrote Nanjiani: “Buffalo PD officially said that the man tripped & fell. If we didn’t have video there would have been no accountability. Why? Because one “bad apple” pushed him down but 20 “good apples” would have let him get away with it. It’s systemic.”
Re: that awful video. Buffalo PD officially said that the man tripped & fell. If we didn’t have video there would have been no accountability. Why? Because one “bad apple” pushed him down but 20 “good apples” would have let him get away with it. It’s systemic.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) June 5, 2020
Buffalo police later suspended two officers. The mayor said he was “deeply disturbed” by what he saw on the video.
