With Donald Trump waging war on free speech and ICE officers killing people in broad daylight, our right to protest is more important than ever. But too often when New Yorkers take to the streets to speak out, they are met with NYPD violence. Often, the officers leading the anti-protest charge are part of the NYPD's notoriously brutal Strategic Response Group, or "the SRG."
The SRG's training specifically names anti-Trump demonstrators, the Black Lives Matter movement, and Occupy Wall Street as examples of "violent" protesters. The unit's members have demonstrated a clear pattern of targeting people of color, using excessive force, and generating higher rates of misconduct complaints compared to other officers.
On this episode, we discuss the SRG with comedian and political satirist Walter Masterson. And we also get into the history of the unit and legislation designed to curtail the SRG’s violence with NYCLU expert and organizer Isabelle Leyva.
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In this episode, you'll hear:
00:00 Intro
02:18 What is the NYPD's Strategic Response Group?
04:14 SRG training that targets racial justice and left-wing protesters
05:13 How Walter got involved in the campaign against the SRG
07:10 Walter's run-ins with the SRG at protests
09:22 What Isabelle has seen the SRG do on the streets
12:33 Walter's satirical testimony at City Council
16:15 How lawmakers react to the testimony
19:42 What the CURB Act would do
21:58 Where the CURB Act stands and what's blocking it
23:56 How listeners can help pass the CURB Act
Resources:
Follow Walter on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@waltermasterson?lang=en
Sign up for our anti-SRG campaign: nyclu.org/srg-signup
Tell Council Members to support the CURB Act: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/curb-nypd-abuse-protesters
Learn more about the SRG: https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/new-yorkers-right-to-protest-is-under-attack-heres-how-a-new-bill-can-protect-it
More on the buffer zone legislation that Walter mentions: https://www.nyclu.org/podcast/inside-the-struggle-against-anti-protest-buffer-zone-laws
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit www.nyclu.org/podcasts
Follow NYCLU on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Bluesky.
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