A bystander video captured two MTA police officers taking down a drunk man in Midtown just before midnight Tuesday with more than a few punches.
The video shows the unidentified man being brought down to the ground as he ambled around 34th Street near Herald Square with the officers on his heels.
The officers are seen trying to trip the man, who does not appear to be armed. Once he is taken down, the officers repeatedly strike him in the face as they continue their attempts to restrain him.
“Can anybody help me, please?” the man repeatedly pleads. “Help me. Mom! Help!”
The man who shot the video, who asked to remain nameless and called himself the “34thSt Witness” on YouTube, told the New York Daily News that he “thought it was a normal fight, but then we realized cops were involved so we started filming.”
The video was titled “NYPD takes Trump’s advice – repeatedly punch unarmed guy in face,” a reference to President Trump encouraging police to “not be too nice” with suspects when he was on Long Island last week.
The NYPD confirmed to Metro that the officers in the video are not from the force, and when reached for comment, the MTA, which has its own separate police force, said, “The incident is under review.”
The agency said that the man, who later stated he was under the influence of LSD, had entered a vehicle without invitation and was removed by the occupants of the car. He was walking down the middle of 34th Street when officers tried to question him.
“Upon approaching the subject, he became violent, flaring his arms,” the MTA said. “EMS was requested via MTA Communications for an Emotionally Disturbed Person, and he was removed to Bellevue Hospital.”
