INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

James Blake: ‘Very Productive’ Meeting Over Arrest With Mayor De Blasio, NYPD Commissioner Bratton [Updated, Video]

By Scott Hough
Published on: 11:03 PST, Sep 21, 2015

Updated with video from ABC.

James Blake, the tennis star once rated as highly as No. 4 in the world, who was wrongfully tackled to the ground for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and sharing an appearance with a suspect wanted for identity theft, as previously reported by the Inquisitr, held a meeting today with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

“Very productive meeting,” the verified Twitter account of New York journalist Azi Paybarah tweeted, purportedly quoting Blake after the meeting.

“We’re looking for a lasting, positive impact on the city,” the verified Twitter account of fellow New York journalist Mario Diaz tweeted, again quoting Blake with regard to the meeting.

A video posted to Twitter shows the amount of force used on Blake, a completely innocent bystander.

“I have resources to get to the bottom of this. I have a voice,” James Blake was quoted by the Atlantic. “But what about someone who doesn’t have those resources and doesn’t have a voice?”

Though the meeting was held privately, Blake had called for NYPD Officer James Frascatore’s “badge” according to reports from Democracy Now! Frascatore is reported to have worked for four different police departments in the past five years. Frascatore is also reported to have five complaints registered against him with the Civilian Complaint Review Board; a number that is said to be more than the number of complaints received by 90 percent of police officers over their entire careers.

A lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, Kenneth Finkelman, stated that he represented a Queens resident who claimed that Frascatore made an arrest and “punched him in the face” after a traffic stop over a broken taillight.

In a separate incident involving New York resident Warren Diggs, it is alleged that Frascatore and two other officers made an arrest and pinned Diggs to the ground over riding his bicycle on the sidewalk. Diggs is reported to have started civil action against Frascatore earlier this year.

The New York Daily News has reported that James Frascatore was placed on desk duty following the James Blake arrest. The newspaper claimed that it took Blake coming forward to them before the incident was put on the NYPD’s “radar.”

“I have concerns about the take down,” NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton was quoted with regard to the handling of James Blake shortly after the wrongful arrest.

[Photo by Maddie Meyer / Getty Images]

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