New York police department has been accused of racist policing after multiple incidents of aggressive policing in predominately black neighbourhoods. On one occasion a man was knocked unconscious in a dispute between officers and residents over observance of social distancing rules. Videos of arrests of black and Hispanic have been caught on tape on the same days as police can be seen distributing masks to mostly white park visitors. 

On 7 May the Brooklyn district attorney’s office released statistics on social distancing enforcement. Statistics show that out of 40 people arrested from March 17 to May 4, thirty-five were black, four were Hispanic and one person was white.  

Citywide statistics show that black people make up 68 percent of those arrested on charges of violating social-distancing rules, while Hispanic people make up 24 percent, while only 7 percent are white. 

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