There have been several Free Tibet protests happening around town this month; one of them even featured city council member Tony Avella. While Tibetan protesters are routinely beaten, imprisoned and even killed by police in China, police brutality is something you might be surprised to see in New York City, unless of course you've attended demonstrations over the years and experienced it first hand. During a Free Tibet protest near the UN on March 14th, some NYPD officers were documented threatening, arresting and clubbing activists seemingly without provocation. In the below video it appears the protesters do nothing more than carry flags, walk on the sidewalk and chant. Yet officers identified as Leroy, Delgado and Serano, and others are depicted clubbing them even when they're down.

The cameraman stridently narrates while filming, saying, "Look at these cops, clubbing people in front of the UN, unbelievable, protesting to free Tibet, cops clubbing people in their legs on the sidewalk, in front of the UN in America, unbelievable, this is not China." He also notes that Officer Serano had threatened to kill two protesters, something the officer later admits to on tape. Don't cops learn about YouTube at the Police Academy these days?

When we contacted the NYPD, asking if they had a statement about the beatings caught on tape that day, we were told that they "wouldn't call what happened a beating." We're currently waiting for an emailed statement which we'll update this post with when received.