The union, the Sergeants’ Benevolent Association, on Saturday said on Twitter that Trevor Bates, a linebacker for the Detroit Lions, acted “beyond that of a wild animal.” The tweet drew outcry from people who believed the language used in the statement was inappropriate.
Joo-Hyun Kang, executive director of Communities United for Police Reform, a coalition of grassroot and civil liberties groups, called the union’s characterization of Bates “racist” and said it fit a pattern of union officials using racist language to target black people. She pointed out that just last week, the head of the city’s rank-and-file officers’ union referred to a 16-year-old sentenced for dragging a police officer outside a car, leaving him with critical injuries, as a “mutt.”
“If the allegations against Bates, including not paying his cab fare are true, he should be held accountable. But the constant use by NYPD unions of racist dog whistles to dehumanize and criminalize black communities must be condemned, and end,” she said.
Bates, 25, had been arrested around 1:30 a.m. Saturday after he refused to pay a $32 yellow-cab fare for a ride from Manhattan to his hotel near LaGuardia Airport in Queens, according to a statement from the Queens district attorney’s office. The police at the 115th Precinct station in Jackson Heights were going to release him with a desk-appearance ticket for fare evasion. But Bates grew agitated as officers tried to fingerprint him, leading him to punch a sergeant in the face, the statement said.
In its Twitter message, the union said officers used a Taser stun gun to subdue Bates, who ripped the prongs from his body.
Bates was held on charges of assault, resisting arrest, theft of services and obstructing governmental administration. He could not be reached for comment Sunday because he was admitted to a hospital to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. If convicted, Bates faces a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
The sergeant, James O’Brien, suffered a concussion and required three stitches over his left eye, prosecutors said.
Bob Quinn, executive vice president and general manager of the Lions, said in a statement Saturday that the team was aware of Bates’ arrest and was gathering more information. The team declined further comment Sunday.
The union president, Ed Mullins, called on the Lions to release Bates in a toned-down statement Sunday, and said the charge of racism “is nonsense and an accusation probably designed to change the topic.”
“Those making the accusations better do their homework as to facts and not a smear campaign,” he said.
Criminal justice advocates have long said that comparing people to animals and labeling them as criminals has contributed to a national epidemic of wrongful convictions that overwhelmingly hurt racial minorities.
The sergeants’ union’s post was the second time in less than a week that the police unions have used coarse language to describe black targets of their outrage.
Last week, Patrick J. Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, which represents two-thirds of the city’s 36,000 officers, referred to Justin Murrell, 16, as a “mutt” after he was sentenced to four years in prison for dragging Detective Dalsh Veve in June 2017, nearly killing him. The term, which conventionally refers to mixed-breed dogs, is commonly used as a pejorative toward people of mixed racial descent.
Loyda Colon, a co-director of the Justice Committee, a police-reform group, said in a statement that the rhetoric of the union leaders encourages an abusive culture where New Yorkers who are not white are treated “as animals or worse” by the police.
“This is dangerous, divisive and encourages the abusive policing communities of color face daily,” said Colon, who added that their words are “all the more frightening” as white supremacy resurges in America.
Bates, who is from Maine, was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 2016, and was on the New England Patriots’ 2017 Super Bowl winning team before signing with the Lions in 2018. His former college football coach at the University of Maine said the accusations appeared out of character for him, according to the Portland Press Herald.
The Police Department declined to comment, and Bates’ mother and his agent did not return calls seeking comment.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.