A New York man is arrested, cuffed and hauled off all because he decided to go for a swim in the ocean when there was no lifeguard on-duty.
We are a nation of jailers.
Andres Velasquez was swimming at Rockaway Beach, cooling off after a hot day at his dog-walking job, when he heard someone blowing a whistle.
He was being ordered out of the water, he refused.
Then several New York City Parks Department patrol officers showed up to arrest him.
Fox 5 in New York reports,
"Swimmers are required to leave the water at 6 p.m. when lifeguard shifts end. Andre Velasquez was in the water around 7 p.m. on Friday when he says Parks Department officers called out to him.
When he refused their request to see his driver's license he claims the officers threw him to the ground and handcuffed him. They hauled him off barefoot and shirtless as other people on the beach watched.
A video taken from the scene as he was escorted away in cuffs shows Velasquez asking, "I'm not allowed to be in nature?"
"It was baffling and traumatizing," Velasquez later told Gothamist.
The NY Times reported that Velasquez didn't see signs that prohibited swimming, saying he only noticed them after officers removed a covering from one.
The Parks department disputed that he was arrested for swimming. The department told FOX5NY.com in a statement: "Unfortunately, due to non-compliance when an ID was requested an arrest was warranted."”
Who the hell goes swimming with an ID on them?
Ridiculous, but this is Democrat criminal justice reform. Free the murderers, rapists & violent thugs so you have space in the jails for the real criminals – a working man.
