NEW YORK — The head of the largest New York police union on Tuesday said the public should suspend judgment of an officer who tackled and arrested ex-tennis star James Blake outside of a Manhattan hotel last week.
The incident, which was caught on a widely circulated video, caused outrage and reignited a debate over the police use of force against men of color like Blake, whose father is black and mother is white.
"No one should ever jump to an uninformed conclusion based upon a few seconds of video," Patrick Lynch, president of the New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said in a statement titled "an open letter to all of those inclined to jump to conclusions.