Thug NYPD Cops Beat Already Restrained Man Senseless

LUKAS I. ALPERT and MURRAY WEISS
NY Post
Thursday, July 31, 2008

The day after a video emerged of a cop knocking a cyclist to the ground, a second video alleging police brutality surfaced today in which an NYPD officer is seen whaling away at a man's legs with a baton.

The footage - shot on July 4 on the Lower East Side - shows Officer Maurice Harrington repeatedly hitting Michael Cephus, 46, on his legs with a collapsible metal baton as he struggles with officers trying to cuff him.

Harrington - a four-year veteran working out of the 52nd Precinct in The Bronx - had his badge and gun taken away and was placed on modified duty when the tape was turned over to the department's Internal Affairs Bureau.

The video does not show how the confrontation began. According to the criminal complaint, Harrington and fellow Officer Joel Medina said they encountered Cephus - who they thought was drunk - around 8 p.m. on Delancey Street under the Williamsburg Bridge.

Full article here.

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