A New York City police officer is facing hate crime charges after being accused of using anti-Muslim slurs while punching a man until he was unconscious.
Riggs Kwong, 50, who was off-duty during the incident, is charged with assault as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime and aggravated harassment, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a Monday statement.
On Jan. 16, Kwong blocked a 32-year-old man from driving down a road, investigators said. The man then followed Kwong and drove in front of his car, according to the DA statement.
As Kwong began videotaping himself using anti-Muslim slurs, the man got out of his vehicle to take a photo of Kwong’s license plate, the DA’s office said. Investigators said Kwong continued to use racial slurs, and the man slapped the hood of Kwong’s vehicle.
Kwong then got out of his vehicle and spat in the man’s face, prosecutors said. The man spat back at Kwong before Kwong punched him several times, causing him to fall to the ground, according to the statement. After the man stood up, Kwong is accused of using anti-Muslim slurs while continuing to punch the man until he fell to the ground again and lost consciousness.
Kwong called 911 and told police he was an off-duty officer and that the other man threw the first punch, according to the statement. Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Kwong punched the man first.
Kwong has been with the NYPD for 18 years and was assigned to the 70th precinct, according to his department profile. He has been suspended without pay, NYPD spokesperson Edward Riley told USA TODAY.
He pleaded not guilty at a Monday hearing and was released without bail, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office told USA TODAY. He is expected to return to court March 22. Thomas Tuffey, who CNN reported is Kwong’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.
Janice Iwama, an assistant professor at American University’s Department of Justice, Law and Criminology, said she was not surprised to hear about the case because “the history of policing in America is so unfortunately intertwined with racism.” Instead, she was more surprised there was surveillance footage available and charges were brought against the officer.
“An incident like this is something that likely happens much more than we’re aware of,” she said.
“Unless it is an extreme case resulting in murder, as shown in (Ahmaud) Arbery’s case, or aggravated assault, as shown in the Brooklyn case, it is unlikely to be reported,” she added. “It’s the more serious cases that happen to be caught on camera that make headlines.”
Three men convicted in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery were sentenced to life in prison this year. The men were also charged with federal hate crimes.
Iwama said police officers rarely face hate crime charges following reported racist incidents because victims are unlikely to report a police officer to their fellow officers. Proving that someone was motivated by bias is difficult, she added. Even when evidence of such motivations is available, not all police departments effectively record it or communicate it with prosecutors, she said.
“It is very difficult to charge anybody for a hate crime,” she said. “And then you add that other layer that this is a law enforcement official, and it’s even more difficult to charge.”
Iwama said the incident emphasizes the need for body cameras and dash cameras, for more comprehensive hate crime legislation, and better data collection on hate crimes.
“We need better measures to make sure law enforcement officials who engage in this type of behavior, whether it is on the job or off the job, are held accountable,” she said.
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
