James Blake continues to fight against NYPD, wants the officer fired

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James Blake was once the fourth highest tennis player in the world, and today after a public confrontation with NYPD, he is bringing necessary but I’m sure unwanted attention to the department.

James Blake police incident

Last week, Blake was standing in the front of Grand Hyatt Hotel on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan when plainclothes NYPD officer James Frascatore reportedly lunged at him, tackled him and put him in handcuffs.

Officers were working on a case involving credit card fraud. The NYPD said Blake looked identical to the man they were looking for.

Media initially reported that Blake was handcuffed for 15 minutes. However, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Monday that Blake was detained for only one minute. A video of the incident, released by the NYPD, has gone viral on social media.

NYPD cop involved

Frascatore has had his gun and badge taken away from him. He’s been placed on modified duty pending an investigation. However, Blake wants the officer fired.

“You’ve got the badge and [are] supposed to treat that with honor,” Blake said in an interview. “I don’t think he deserves to ever have a badge again.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Bratton personally apologized to Blake. Blake said the apology is not enough. He further stated the incident could have gone another way and speaks to a bigger systematic problem.

“If I had [offered] any sort of resistance, I wonder what could have happened. I could have broken bones, a concussion or worse,” Blake said.

When asked whether he felt race was a factor in the way Blake was treated, Bratton dismissed the accusation.

“I don’t believe that race was a factor,” Bratton said. “This rush to put a race tag on it, I’m sorry, that’s not involved in this at all.”

Blake, who has worked with media outlets about the abuse Black men have to face that may not have the status as he does, wants to create a dialogue about the issue.

“I don’t want a lawsuit that says, ‘Here’s $5 million. Go away. We’re not going to talk about this again,’” he said. “I want to talk about this, open dialogue. About real solutions, accountability, about making sure that this isn’t going to happen.”

Excessive force past

Officer Frascatore has two pending settlements for excessive force. Before the incident involving Blake, two other men, both Black, claimed they were brutalized by Frascatore. Leroy Cline and Warren Diggs both sued Frascatore, and the city is currently in the process in working out settlements for both men. Diggs alleges Frascatore punched him in the head and threw him to the ground while he was entering his home to show officers his ID.

In a statement, Patrolman Benevo lent Association President Pat Lynch said Frascatore believed that a crime had just been committed and that he acted accordingly, offering some form of apology to Blake.

“The apprehension was made under fluid circumstances where the subject might have fled and the officer did a professional job of bringing the individual to the ground to prevent that occurrence,” Lynch said. “It is truly un- fortunate that the arrest was a result of mistaken identity by the complainant in the case, and we regret any embarrassment or injury suffered by Mr. Blake as a result.”