Accused of biting police official, NYC Council member says police were the aggressors

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City Council member accused of biting a police official complained Thursday that officers used excessive force as she strove to help someone who was lying under a barricade at a protest.

Brooklyn Democrat Susan Zhuang didn’t address the biting allegation as she gave her version of the encounter, but she insisted “what happened to me should not happen.”

Zhuang was charged Wednesday with felony assault and various misdemeanors and violations. A court complaint said she bit a deputy police chief’s forearm and resisted being handcuffed after she and other protesters were told to stop pushing barricades toward officers.

Police, citing an arrest report before the complaint was released, said Zhuang was blocking officers from getting to a woman on the ground.

Zhuang, a conservative Democrat who ran on a pro-police platform last year, said she was trying to help the woman. The council member said officers came up behind her, handcuffed her, pulled her hair and grabbed her neck, and she struggled.

“The situation escalated to the use of excessive force by the NYPD,” she said at a news conference, calling for “full accountability” for ”all those involved.”

“Police brutality is wrong,” she said.

The incident happened as police and demonstrators faced off at a protest over the construction of a new homeless shelter in Zhuang’s district.

In one video posted to social media, a woman who appears to be Zhuang can be seen alongside other protesters trying to wrestle a barricade away from police as an officer tries to handcuff her.