Updated: 10/03/2024 07:29 PM EDT
NEW YORK — Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs was arrested and given a summons for disorderly conduct Thursday by the New York City Police Department in his East Harlem district.
Two people who spoke with sources inside the NYPD said Gibbs’ brother was pulled over for having an unregistered vehicle. The Assemblymember was in the car at the time and got into a heated conversation with the cops, who arrested him and gave him a summons.
Nearly a dozen police cars responded to the incident on Lexington Avenue, just outside the James Weldon Johnson Community Center, according to Frederick Thomas, a security guard with the New York City Housing Authority. Cops from the Strategic Response Group patted down Gibbs, who is Black, put him in handcuffs and drove him away from the scene.
Three other eyewitnesses confirmed Gibbs’ arrest to POLITICO. It was first reported by the New York Post.
Gibbs confirmed the details to journalists Thursday afternoon after getting released from the police precinct, Fox 5 reported . “We must respect car stops,” he said. “It’s dangerous. Officers don’t know who they’re dealing with, officers don’t know who they’re pulling aside. And I kind of added to that fear.”