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.