Newark suspends special police officer after arrest of TV cameraman
Newark police said today they suspended a special police officer who had arrested a Channel 2 news cameraman and put him in a chokehold while he was filming a demonstration on Sunday.
Christine Sloan, a Channel 2 newswoman who was present during the arrest, wrote on the station’s website that Quodomine was filming on a public sidewalk when Sharif ordered him to stop and then grabbed his camera and wrestled with him.
If you haven’t seen it, a video of the incident is below — pretty disturbing stuff, and it comes on the heels of a recent protest in Newark against…you guessed it…police brutality.
The incident drew quite the reaction around the blogosphere. Carlos Miller, writing for Photography is Not a Crime, questions the officer’s relationship to the Police Department and notes:
If they are not police officers, then why the hell is Shariff wearing a yellow vest that clearly states “Newark Police”? And why the hell does Shariff have the power to arrest citizens?
It sounds to me that Booker is trying to take blame off the Newark Police Department, which was sued twice in one week in January over separate First Amendment issues.
The officer’s quick suspension is appreciated, but I wonder how much of this old world mentality still exists in the NPD.
The Daily Newarker 