Mayor to meet with protesters; Search for suspects in Brooklyn Bridge cop assault continues

NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is planning to meet with organizers of the protests over the death of Eric Garner.

Administration officials confirmed that de Blasio will meet with members of the Justice League at City Hall on Friday. The Justice League held a small protest Monday outside the mayor's home, Gracie Mansion, and also has organized larger events across the city since a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict a police officer for the chokehold death of Garner.

Most protests have been peaceful, but two police officers were injured last week during a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge. Police have released images of the seven suspects they are searching for and have also offered a $12,000 reward.

A police union criticized de Blasio for meeting with the protesters in light of the violence, but de Blasio on Wednesday reiterated that attacks on police officers are completely unacceptable.

"We have to denounce violence against police officers," he said. "This is so fundamental. I said it yesterday. You cannot talk about social change and then commit an act of violence against a police officer. It makes no sense and denigrates the cause. It undermines the legitimacy. It's illegal. It's wrong. It's immoral. You got to go down the whole list. I would say this to any protester anywhere. Respect the police. Listen to their instructions. Work with them. If someone in your midst discusses a potential attack on police, you have to turn that person in. You have to help the police stop that. You have to work with the police if you see someone about to commit an act of violence. Not just police or property but anyone. You have to stop it. All protesters really have to take responsibility for the larger group they are part of."

On Monday night, there was a thank you from Police Commissioner William Bratton to whoever posted video of the incident on YouTube.

"I want to thank them with providing us with the evidence will use to arrest and successfully prosecute them," Bratton said.

Police say the video, which has enhanced to help find the suspects, shows lieutenants Patrick Sullivan and Phillip Chan being assaulted Saturday night by a small group of people during a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge. They were trying to arrest 29-year-old Eric Linkser, who they say resisted arrested after attempting to toss a 50-pound garbage can from the elevated walkway at officers on the roadway below.

As Linkser violently resisted, according to authorities, they say other demonstrators intervened, pulling him away from police. During the struggle, the demonstrators punched and kicked the lieutenants while attempting to remove the officers' police department radios and NYPD jackets.

Linkser managed to get away, but the Baruch College professor was arrested hours later after officers were able to retain his backpack, which they say contained a black ski mask, three hammers wrapped in plastic, personal papers and a small quantity of marijuana.

Both lieutenants were transported to Lower Manhattan Hospital in stable condition, one with a broken nose and both with multiple cuts and bruises. They were treated and released.

Investigators are also looking to speak with nine witnesses seen in the video.

Anyone with information regarding these suspects, these witnesses, or this incident in general, is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477)

Detectives say the man in the dark cap kicked Sullivan while he was on the ground. Another woman in a multicolored skirt yanked Sullivan backwards. A man in a hooded sweatshirt punched Chan in the face, while a woman in a red scarf took a swing at the officers.

"Our goal is that the peaceful protesters get the right to protest," Deputy Commissioner of NYPD Legal Affairs Larry Burn said. "And incidents like what occurred on Saturday night (are a) small group trying to prevent what was otherwise a rather...peaceful day."

"We do not take attacks on our police officers lightly," Bratton said. "We never have, and never will."

The judge set a court date for Linkser in March, and told him that felony charges are pending for then, when he sees what kind of evidence police will have at that time. Linkser, who teaches composition at Baruch, is not afraid to share his anti-police views. He has gone on record with anti-police statements, and during the protests, Linkser's Twitter page was laden with pictures of police car vandalism and comments with the hashtag "turn up the anger."

Meanwhile, it was de Blasio's comments regarding the assault that angered the Sergeants Benevolent Association union. He denounced the attack, which he called an "alleged assault." The use of the word "alleged" upset the sergeants union so much that it prompted the president to call de Blasio a "nincompoop."

"And I feel that we have an indecisive mayor," union president Ed Mullins said. "And if we look at the history of what he's been doing, this has been an administration that has been filled with turmoil and a lot of indecisiveness."

It came just one day after union officials offered a petition to its members that, if signed, would ask the mayor and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to stay away from their funerals should they be killed in the line of duty. De Blasio called the petition unacceptable and divisive.

PBA president Patrick J. Lynch responded to the comments, saying, "It is very clear to me that the mayor has no idea of just how angry New York City police officers are at him for his lack of support and for laying decades of society's problems undeservedly at their feet."

During an appearance Tuesday on the daytime talk show "The View", de Blasio criticized the PBA's petition to ban him from future NYPD funerals as "inappropriate."