‘Defend the NYPD’ — Cop boosters march through Middle Village
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Eagle photo by David Brand
By David Brand
Defenders of the status quo converged on Middle Village to show their support for the NYPD Tuesday evening, their Thin Blue Line flags flapping in the breeze and their chants of “law and order” greeted with applause from single-family homeowners in the suburban Queens neighborhood.
The event kicked off with the Pledge of Allegiance, recited on a concrete expanse inside Juniper Valley Park. Marchers paused at the start of the procession to sing “God Bless the USA” before continuing along 80th Street and pouring onto Eliot Avenue.
Occasional hecklers, including a group of teens on bikes, were drowned out with chants of “blue lives matter,” which at times rippled through the overwhelmingly white crowd. Toward the end of the event, demonstrators screamed at a local activist named Katrina Colletti as she attempted to write Black Lives Matter on the pavement near the park. Some marchers poured water on the street to wash away the chalk, while others stood in her way to block the lettering.
March leaders carried a banner that said “Support the NYPD.”
Overall, however, the march remained tame, with police supporters remixing some of the chants heard throughout the city during weeks of demonstrations against racist police violence.
“Defund the NYPD” became “Defend the NYPD,” for example.
The familiar call-and-response “How do you spell racist? N-Y-P-D” was repurposed as “How do you spell heroes?”
Retired Queens prosecutor Jim Quinn, a one-time candidate for Queens borough president, led the procession and held a banner that read “We support the NYPD.”
“What’s being done to the police department is a shame and politicians should be ashamed,” Quinn said.
“All these people are talking about Black Lives Matter. Well, Black lives will matter if we support our police department,” he added, citing statistics that Black New Yorkers are more likely to be victims of violent crime than their peers across other races.
Nationwide, Black people are also three times more likely to be killed by police than white people, according to the organization Mapping Police Violence.
Vroom vroom.
A group of motorcyclists eventually joined the march, revving their engines as neighbors and fellow demonstrators cheered.
Inside the nearby park, a pair of runners hoisted a Blue Lives Matter flag as they coursed the track. The crowd erupted.
Rego Park resident Elizabeth Stoddard attended the event with her young son, each carrying signs signaling their support for the NYPD.
“I feel bad for our police because they have been there for me when I needed them so I wanted to be there for them when they needed it,” Stoddard said.
