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NEW YORK – Authorities announced Wednesday that three homeless men who fought a New York City police officer on a subway platform would be criminally charged after the video of the meeting having collected millions of views online.
Two of the men will be charged with rioting and obstructing the government administration, police said, while a third man faces these indictments in addition to an attempt at assault, an attempt to criminal possession of a weapon and threats. Two of the three men were arrested Wednesday night. The third remained on the run.
Two other men in the video, who appeared to be trying to break up the fight, are not being charged.
The charges stem from an incident in which a group of homeless men refused. Order of a police officer to "back off".
A video of the meeting, viewed more than 4.75 million times on social media, showed agent Syed Ali using a baton and kicking the men, who appeared to be drunk on their arrival . at home one at a time Sunday night. Ali, a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, never took out his gun.
Police cited the men the next day, accused of sleeping on the floor of the station, but not for their altercation. Manhattan district prosecutors have dropped the case, citing a policy limiting prosecution for this type of less serious offense.
But as the video drew more and more attention, the decision not to pursue the case drew criticism from Ali's union, the Patrolmen Benevolent Association, who said the men "should be held accountable for their actions". The prosecutor's office said prosecutors who had refused to prosecute the sleep-related violations did not know that the men were also involved in an altercation with the officer.
"It is impossible to say how badly these dishonest people would have done harm to this brave police officer who had not been equipped to deal with it," Patrick Lynch, union president, said in a statement.
One of the homeless men fell off the platform into chaos and had to be removed from the tracks. He and the others were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The men were arrested only the next morning, when the police spotted them at East Broadway Station and quoted them for sleeping on the floor.
People are arrested for attacking police officers, we are prosecuting them, "said Danny Frost, spokesman for the prosecutor's office." These men were not arrested for attacking an officer, but for sleeping on the floor of a subway station – a violation of the rules, not a crime. "
Mayor Bill de Blasio praised Ali's" extraordinary professionalism and courage. " He tweeted on Tuesday that "attacking our men and women in uniform will never be tolerated."
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