Man with knives strapped to arm threatens to kill George Floyd protestors in Whitestone

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Cell phone video captures the man confronting demonstrators with multiple blades attached to his arm. Image via @lambomursy/Twitter

Cell phone video captures the man confronting demonstrators with multiple blades attached to his arm. Image via @lambomursy/Twitter

By David Brand

UPDATE [June 3, 2020 12:56 p.m.] — The 109th Precinct community affairs office says they are aware of the incident and a police report has been filed.

UPDATE [June 3, 2020 1:24 p.m.] — An NYPD spokesperson said police are investigating the incident.

An enraged driver with at least two blades strapped to his arm threatened to kill demonstrators during a protest against police violence and racial injustice before attempting to hit them with his SUV in Whitestone Tuesday.

Multiple cell phone videos show a middle-aged white man brandishing a bladed weapon attached to his arm and screaming at demonstrators as he stalked them on foot along the sidewalk, where posters condemning the police killing of George Floyd hung from a chain link fence. Other videos show him returning to his vehicle and driving the car onto the sidewalk, sending the demonstrators running for their lives.

Witness Arianna Agudo of Woodhaven said she happened to be driving along Clintonville Street, above the Cross Island Parkway, when the confrontation occurred. Agudo, 22, posted a video of the incident on Instagram and said the altercation escalated quickly after the driver and a group of young people argued about police violence and systemic racism.

“The kids [were] just calmly protesting by just placing signs and posters, all of the sudden the guy started insulting them and the kids just started talking back defending their beliefs,” Agudo said in an email. 

The exchange infuriated the man, she said. He turned around and ditched his Mercury SUV on the overpass, blocking traffic so he could threaten the group of young people with the piece of Medieval weaponry attached to his arm. He walked toward one person wearing a white sweatshirt and accused the demonstrators of throwing something at his car.

“He literally made a crazy U-turn, parked in front of them and started chasing them with his 4 knife weapon,” she said. “After that, he got back into his car and GOT ON the sidewalk, stepped on the gas pedal and started chasing those kids with the intent of running them over. Then he just got away.”

Another video captures the verbal altercation that continued after the man returned to his vehicle to confront the demonstrators. 

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you,” the man screamed at the group of young people. “You’re in the wrong neighborhood. You’re in the wrong neighborhood, bitch.” 

The man drove onto the sidewalk to further intimidate protestors, Agudo said.

The NYPD said Tuesday and Wednesday that they had no reports stemming from the incident. “That would be menacing,” a spokesperson said Tuesday night.

Update:

On Wednesday afternoon, a community affairs officer at the 109th Precinct said officers are aware of the incident and a police report has been filed. The officer directed additional questions to the NYPD press office.

Update:

In an email, an NYPD spokesperson, Detective Denise Moroney, said police are investigating the incident.

“A 23-year-old male reported to police that an unidentified individual exited a vehicle with a sharp object and displayed it to a crowd that was peacefully protesting and fled in a vehicle described as a gray SUV mercury.  There were no reported injuries as a result, no arrests at this time and the investigation is ongoing,” Moroney said.