OPINION: As riots continued to escalate all over America last night in response to the death of George Floyd, an officer with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) was sent airborne as a car ran him down, and the event was captured in some chilling video footage.

The incident occurred early Tuesday morning at a street corner in the Bronx, where officers were responding to reports of 20 or 30 people exiting a pawn shop, according to the New York Daily News. A police sergeant and another ranking officer in a white shirt were crossing the street just after 12:40 a.m. when a vehicle began driving right at them at a high speed. While the officer in the white shirt was able to evade the vehicle, the sergeant was not so lucky—he was struck and sent flying into the air. (Warning: the following video contains graphic imagery and obscene language):

BREAKING: A police officer is run over in the Bronx pic.twitter.com/XbeGrpmVwn

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) June 2, 2020

Officers were able to load the injured sergeant into a police van and rush him to the hospital, where he remains in stable condition. A lieutenant with the Bronx 44th Precinct told a dispatcher that the sergeant had suffered a head injury, broken leg, and was having difficulty breathing.

This came after two police officers in Buffalo, New York were struck by a vehicle while trying to contain rioters. A disturbing video shows the two officers running from an SUV as it accelerates towards them, clearly intent on hitting them.

This is what happens when the media glorifies violence against police the way they have since these riots began. Police officers all over America are now in increased danger, as crazed rioters think that it’s acceptable to target law enforcement officers.

What happened to Floyd is wrong, but there is no excuse for what is happening to American police officers right now. It’s time for this to end immediately before any more lives are forever maimed by this mayhem.

This opinion piece was written by PoliZette Staff on June 3, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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