A protester was charged and held on bail after allegedly punching two NYPD officers at two different demonstrations last week.
Yotameli Sayer, 22, is accused of assaulting two officers in separate incidents, both of which allegedly occurred Dec. 4 after a Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict an NYPD officer in the death of Eric Garner.
Police said Sayer was first arrested in Chelsea last week after he punched an officer during a protest. Cops confiscated his fanny pack in that incident.
Sayer went to retrieve the bag at police headquarters on Tuesday, and ended up being detained on a separate alleged assault, which was captured on video, according to ABC New York.
The second incident happened during a rally outside the Staten Island Ferry later the same day. Police said they identified Sayer as a protester, clad in black and wearing a face mask, that "cold-cocked" an officer during the demonstration. The altercation was filmed and distributed through social media, police said.
The assailant in that video was wearing the same fanny pack, which had the word "destitution" written on it, according to the New York Daily News.
"He was cold-cocked on the side by some coward who came out of the crowd," NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said, according to ABC New York. "He's the type of character we're talking about that is taking away from the significance of these marches. He's out there just to engage in baiting the police, out there to, quite obviously, attack the police."
Sayer is a native of the Netherlands currently living in Bushwick, Brooklyn. In addition to assault, he is charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct, police said.
Sayer's lawyer denies the charges, according to the New York Post.
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