[NY Newsday - 3/14/02] Police will investigate a Pakistani immigrant's claim that he was beaten in Brooklyn by officers, including one who called him a Taliban before starting to hit him.
Raja Aftab Iqbal, 48, of Ozone Park, said that after the beating he was taken to the 70th Precinct station house - the same one where Abner Louima was tortured in 1997. The alleged attack on Iqbal has angered some leaders in the Pakistani community.
"Before Sept. 11, they blamed Afro-Americans for everything," said Asghar Choudhri, an accountant and president of the Pakistani American Federation of New York. "Now they blame everybody of Middle Eastern origin or if you have a beard they call you al-Qaida."
Iqbal said he was crossing Church Avenue near 18th Street on Monday when police trying to control a fight among youths stopped him. They told him he could not go to his job, a beauty supply store at 1805 Church Ave., he said. "Then one cop he sees my face and he says, 'Taliban,'" Iqbal said in a phone interview. "That's the only word he said, and he hit me in my face and after that I don't know how many people were hitting me - six or eight," Iqbal said. "They arrested me, put handcuffs on me and they still beat me."
A police spokesman, Lt. Brian Burke, said the Internal Affairs Bureau will investigate Iqbal's allegation. He said Iqbal was issued a summons because he disobeyed a police order not to cross the street. Burke added that Iqbal was also "loud and boisterous and disorderly." Iqbal denied that he disobeyed police.
He said he was kept at the 70th Precinct station house for about an hour before being given a desk appearance ticket for disorderly conduct. He said he later went to a Brooklyn physician where he was treated for cuts and bruises. Several Pakistani immigrant leaders met at the Coney Island Avenue offices of Choudhri to discuss the matter Tuesday.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
[posted 3/18/02]
Stop Police Brutality index | R&R Main Page
Join Refuse
& Resist!
305 Madison Ave., Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165
Phone: 212-713-5657
email: info@refuseandresist.org