New York Cop Who Pulled Gun On, Then Assaulted Men Filming Is “The Hero You Deserve”
About a week ago, Asa J blogged about a New York cop who pulled a gun on three men in their late teens after they filmed him make an arrest. Shortly after that he also came back and assaulted then violated and wrongfully arrested one of those men.
He subsequently was placed on modified duty and stripped of his gun and badge while other officers pretend to investigate the incident. (The original video is embedded below.)
A few days later the Gothamist uncovered (by way of Cop Watch activist Steve Cruz and Instagram) some other “fun facts” about Officer Risel Martinez. Apparently he likes to do a bit of dress up while videotaping himself working out and boasting about what a hero he is and how much you “deserve” him.
He also likes to shoot video while driving around town, which is both against the law and a violation of NYPD policy. It’s also something cops routinely stop and extort people that don’t have Magic Suits under their Batman uniforms for. I highly doubt that Ofc. Martinez is an exception in that respect.
It’s hard to say I’m surprised (because I’m not) that this Hero turns out to not just be a violent bully, but also an egotistical hypocrite and a big delusional weirdo.
Enjoy.
Video: Someone Who Appears To Be That Gun-Waving Cop Says He’s “The Hero You Deserve”
And if you have any doubt this is the IG of the cop who threatened, assaulted, & arrested a copwatcher, oh come on. pic.twitter.com/x2q8bubkwC
— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) May 24, 2016
The cop caught on video threatening and attacking bystanders who filmed him in Harlem last week likes playing dress-up. That’s what Cop Watch activist Steve Cruz says he discovered when Officer Risel Martinez followed his Instagram account, and Cruz started poring over his. Cruz says Martinez deleted his account soon thereafter, but not before Cruz had mined many weird and whimsical, if not by-the-book videos from it. The one that is perhaps the most topically relevant to the incident last Thursday, during which Martinez punched a 19-year-old who was filming him and pulled a gun on another bystander filming, is of a man who seems to be Martinez lifting weights dressed as Batman, or “Yatman.”
A video posted by Copwatch Patrol Unit (@copwatch_nyc_cpu) on
In another video, Martinez appears to be goofing around dressed as Thor, or “Yor,” in a cell.
Here he is as Bane:
He also dressed like and quoted Batman’s villain, Bain. pic.twitter.com/ZkoNyGrGwF
— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) May 24, 2016
And keeping his hair nice:
He also took silly videos inside his patrol car, with his personal phone, two violations of the patrol guide. pic.twitter.com/sX5Y8MofmS
— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) May 24, 2016
Cruz said the follow notification came early in the morning as he was blasting out videos bystanders shot of the Thursday incident, and that he was shocked to realize that the man on the other end was the officer pointing a gun in the video.
“I looked at [Martinez’s profile] real fast, then started downloading all the videos, boom boom boom, got out of it, backed out of it, then privatized my page, ” Cruz said.
Martinez was stripped of his gun and badge on Saturday as video of his handling of the Harlem incident circulated online. It began, according to police, when officers had stopped a driver and dirt-bike riders started circling them. The NYPD says the officers chased the bikers, and witnesses said that they caught up to one rider at a building on 134th Street and Eighth Avenue and arrested him. The man was compliant, witnesses said, but Martinez punched him repeatedly anyway, then when a bystander started to film him and a partner struggling with the man on the floor, Martinez pulled his gun and pointed it at the peanut gallery, yelling “Back up!” Another video shows Martinez storming over to 19-year-old Jahnico Harvey, who is filming outside the front door of the building, and punching him in the face. Harvey was arrested and charged with menacing and disorderly conduct.
Footage of the incident released so far provides an incomplete accounting of everything that happened leading up to and following the gun-pulling and punching.
Martinez’s Instagram videos put a human face on last week’s violence, but unfortunately for him, cops aren’t supposed to post photos in uniform, and like the rest of us, are banned from using their phones while driving.
He even took videos, on his phone, in his patrol car, while driving! #VisionZero! pic.twitter.com/pBuiT2qMe3
— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) May 24, 2016
Cruz said that Martinez appears “way tweaked” in the Harlem video, as well as in his personal posts, and questioned his mental state. He said he hopes that releasing videos of the embattled cop will help police leaders decide to fire him.
“[Cop Watch Patrol Unit] hopes that Bill Bratton comes to his senses and lets this officer go, because he’s a ticking time bomb,” Cruz said.
He said the group is holding some videos in reserve in case the department tries to claim Martinez is a decent cop.
Martinez joined the department in 2012, according to city payroll records. For anyone who wants to go further down this rabbit hole, here’s a greatest hits reel of sorts compiled by Cruz, including one of Martinez holding a knife to the neck of a Christmas elf doll.
We’ve reached out to the NYPD to see if there is any separate action being taken around Martinez’s goofing off. We’ll update if we hear back. We couldn’t reach Martinez.
[h/t Keegan Stephan]
