CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The NYPD Reminds Us That Police Don’t Protect People, Only Power

Image by Gianandrea Villa.

In a lawsuit complaining that the New York City Police Department failed to protect a woman from assaults by a Zionist mob, the city’s lawyers are arguing that police have no legal obligation to protect individuals from assault.

This defense and its legal precedent are a salient reminder that police do not create safety. Despite billions in funding and never-ending calls for more training, more body cameras, more specialized teams – the police have consistently proven that they only function to uphold existing power systems, not to “protect and serve” our communities.

Last year, I was horrified to watch countless online videos of the incident that led plaintiff Amanda Luci to sue the city. On April 24, 2025, Luci heard a helicopter outside of her apartment in Brooklyn, leading her to wander outside to investigate what was going on.

She discovered an ongoing protest outside the headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch, a global Orthodox-Hasidic movement. The space planned to host Israeli Defense Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for a speech – and Pro-Palestinian protestors gathered outside to protest the war criminal’s appearance.

Ben-Gvir is an active leader in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza over the last two and a half years, killing tens of thousands of civilians, including countless children. He recently poured champagne on the Knesset floor to celebrate the passage of new Israeli legislation approving the death penalty for Palestinian political prisoners imprisoned by Israel.

According to the complaint, Luci arrived near the end of the protest and stood near dozens of cops, hoping their presence would guarantee her safety while observing the protest. However, one of the Zionists, seeing a woman in a scarf, presumed her to be a Pro-Palestinian supporter, and a mob of men swarmed her, while the........

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