A meeting of the Rochester City Council’s Public Safety Committee…called so council members could question Police Chief Michael Ciminelli about a Facebook video…ended when angry community members took over the floor and refused to be silenced.
The video posted last week shows a Rochester police officer telling a woman to move back from the scene of an arrest near Hollenbeck Street and Avenue A. The officer then yells “too late!” He grabs her from behind and slams her to the ground before officers handcuff her. It was shot by a man sitting in a car next to the action on Facebook Live. The photographer was arrested as well when he got out of his car to get a better camera angle.
Critics call it excessive force. Council members including committee chair Adam McFadden called it “hard to stomach.” Mcfadden said anyone who attacks a woman from behind is “a punk.”
Chief Ciminelli says the video isn’t fun to watch, but there are three hours of video from body cameras and overhead street cameras. He’s hoping those can be released when the investigation is complete so the entire sequence of events can be seen.