Hawk Newsome, head of Black Lives Matter NYC, turned himself in on assault charges after a Harlem protest and invoked Martin Luther King Jr. in his defense.
The leader of the Black Lives Matter New York City chapter surrendered to authorities on Monday amid allegations of assaulting a Black man during a political rally last week – while speaking about the ‘Black faces of systemic oppression’ and comparing himself to Martin Luther King Jr.
Newsome was spotted in Harlem as he sought to surrender to authorities, the New York Post reported. He is accused of punching Manhattan Democratic District Leader William Allen as the protest descended into chaos Friday afternoon, sources told the newspaper.
Newsome was with several activists when they swarmed Councilman Yusef Salaam’s Harlem office to object to a nonprofit leader having her community funding yanked.
On Monday, he went to the New York Police Department’s 28th Precinct to voluntarily surrender to police. While speaking to supporters, Newsome compared himself to civil rights icon Martin Luther, King Jr., as he criticized the charges against him.