The Intercept: NYPD SRG and the 2020 Riots

A cache of internal NYPD documents and OEM emails reveal new details about what happened last summer during the civil unrest

The Documents:

• Strategic Response Group Guide

• SRG Bike Squad Training Modules

• SRG Field Force Training Modules

• NYPD Academy - Civil Disorder Offenses

• NYPD Academy - Discretion

• NYPD Academy - Maintaining Public Order

• NYPD Academy - Custodial Offenses

• Office of Emergency Management Real-time Emails

The Intercept Stories:

• NYPD “Goon Squad” Manual Teaches Officers to Violate Protesters’ Rights

• Internal NYPD Documents Show Cops Were Sent to Protests With Barely Any First Amendment Training

• NYPD Took Hours to Respond to Mass Looting, Despite Quickly Cracking Down on Protests

These documents were published exclusively by The Intercept for its three-part series into the civil unrest last summer, by myself and the fantastic Alice Speri.

The documents provide an inside look at the NYPD’s riot squad, the Strategic Response Group, and its controversial response to the protests after the murder of George Floyd.

They show that not only was SRG’s crackdown on political protesters overly violent, but that they allowed — with no response — a full-blown 90-block riot in the heart of Manhattan by non-ideological actors, followed by even more violent rioting the following night in the Bronx.

The city’s multifaceted failure last summer will go down as one of the most notorious incidents in modern New York history.

The documents were part of a cache which inform a broader and ongoing investigation. The left over documents from this cache were published two months after The Intercept series, as part of a five-part DocuDrop NYC feature called NYPD Docs Clearinghouse Week. Read those documents there.

Supporting Documents:

• Sergeants Benevolent Association Letter

• Police Benevolent Association Letter

Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images