New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani blasted the “disturbing and unacceptable” behavior of NYPD narcotics detectives in an incident that was caught on video.
The mayor called for an investigation following the violent arrest of a man by two plainclothes Brooklyn North Narcotics detectives, as a video clip from the scene went viral. It turned out that Timothy L. Brown, who was seen being dragged, punched, and aggressively handled during the arrest, was not even the man the detectives were looking for in an undercover operation involving drug sales in the area.
“The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable. Officers should never treat a person this way. The NYPD is conducting a full investigation into this incident,” Mamdani wrote on X.
The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable. Officers should never treat a person this way. The NYPD is conducting a full investigation into this incident. https://t.co/zdQllljhyh
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) April 15, 2026
“I just thank God that I’m alive. That’s all I can say,” Brown told CBS News, New York. “I know there’s a reason for everything, and I know God’s watching and I want justice.”
“They slammed me up against the glass, you know, repeatedly hitting me in the temple, in my head, you know? You see my eye’s black,” he recounted. “Several bottles were broken in the liquor store because they swung me and they actually dragged me on the floor in glass, and that can be seen on camera.”
(Video Credit: CBS News New York)
“There are a number of videos circulating online of an incident that occurred yesterday inside a store in Brooklyn involving two members of the NYPD. As I said at a press conference earlier today, these videos are deeply disturbing, and the matter is under active investigation by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch wrote in a social media post.
“The officers in question are modified. Their guns and shields have been removed,” she added.
Brooklyn City Councilman Lincoln Restler said in a post on X that the “officers should be suspended immediately and ultimately fired. Our NYPD must have a zero-tolerance policy for police brutality.”
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry condemned reactions like Mamdani’s as police unions urged that comments should be held until facts are known.
“We don’t know why the mayor is bothering to call for an investigation when he has already rushed to condemn the NYPD members involved without knowing all the facts. As we have said before, the mayor’s words matter. He should not publicly prejudge any incident involving police officers,” Hendry said in a statement.
“NYPD detectives put their lives on the line daily, doing the dangerous work politicians would never have the courage to do,” Scott Munro, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, said. “Narcotics detectives arrest you and tell you to put your hands behind your back, and [you] don’t comply, what do you think happens? We deserve all the facts before anyone rushes to judgment.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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