Taser-wielding madman sparks mayhem in Washington Square Park, cops say
By Steven Vago and Dean Balsamini
June 19, 2021 | 9:30am | Update
new york post
Mayhem erupted in beleaguered Washington Square Park early Saturday when a taser-waving madman armed with a knife sent park dwellers running out of the park — trampling a woman in the process.
The woman was left covered in blood after she was “run over” in the stampede to safety, police said. Dramatic images show the victim, 43, bleeding from her face. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition with cuts, scrapes and bruises, cops said.
Police collared a 42-year-old Manhattan man following the chaos. Jason McDermott is charged with menacing, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
The latest havoc in the famed park comes amid increasing outrage over repeated incidents of violence. Hundreds of locals packed the basement of a Greenwich Village church this week for an emergency meeting about the problems — as police officials promised to “address” their growing concerns.
It’s unclear what sparked the allegedly unhinged McDermott, 42, to begin waving a taser near a group of revelers gathered inside the park at around 12:40 a.m. He was also carrying a large knife.
Jason McDermott is charged with menacing, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
When the park-goers made a run for cover, the woman was steamrolled by other frightened denizens.
“There just happened to be a woman in a tan dress and she just looked like she was trying to get out of the way … while the crowd comes behind her and completely slams her to the ground,” said Montana K, a 32-year-old East Village resident.
“I saw one guy following another guy. There was a Taser to his neck at one point. They were running away and probably slammed into the girl on accident,” she added.
“Someone popped their mouth off and said something racist and another person clapped back and had a Taser, some s–t like that.”
[N.S.: That’s pure fiction, invented to cover for a violent crime by a “black.” And what sort of garbage code phrase is “clapped back”? If the attack was justified, why not use clear English? This is a case of a White “ally,” who will always lie on behalf of a black criminal, whom she saw violate a White.]
A woman was left bloodied after she was “run over” in the stampede to safety.
When asked by The Post what happened, the unidentified [sic] suspect said “my sister set me up,” while being taken away by police officers.
[N.S.: “B—ch set me up.”
So, what happened to “said something racist”? And where’s the copyeditor?!]
McDermott was taken into custody without incident and police recovered the weapons at the scene. He was charged with menacing, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
No one else was hurt, and the park remained open, the NYPD said.
The early morning violence followed a peaceful night of revelry in the park, as about two dozen police officers stood under the arch within barricades.
[N.S.: "Followed a peaceful night of revelry"?! That sounds like the fake news coverage of "mostly peaeceful protests," i.e., savage, racist riots.]
Police set up a perimeter beneath the archway of Washington Square Park on June 18, 2021.Alex Kent/Getty Images
A flamethrower provided a light to one woman’s joint, to the delight of the crowd, as hundreds of people grooved to the sounds of a DJ.
Officers stood by as people drank beer and nutcrackers and smoked weed around the fountain, even as one man yelled, “F–k you. F–k the cops,” at the barricaded police.
Olivia Stevens, an 18-year-old college student from New Jersey, comes to the Greenwich Village park three times a week “because the suburbs are boring and my friends and I have nothing else to do.”
“I think anybody should be allowed outside whenever they want to be outside,” the Morris County nursing student said.
People party in Washington Square Park on June 18, 2021. The gatherings in the park have drawn numerous complaints from the community.Alex Kent/Getty Images
Local residents who are concerned about noise coming from the nine-acre park shouldn’t have moved to the historically bohemian nightlife-rich area, Stevens said.
“That’s New York. That’s what happens. If you move near Washington Square Park that’s to be expected.”
“They can try their hardest but look at how many people are here,” she said, gesturing to the hundreds of people. “Nothing is going to stop us from showing up.”
Garbage. She's anarchy-loving trash. As soon as the cops enforce the law, she'll stop showing up.
By 2 a.m. hundreds of people remained partying in the park, as police stood by without enforcing the curfew — a far cry from earlier this month when cops clashed with parkgoers earlier this month over the earlier closing time — leaving nearly two dozen people arrested and five cops with injuries.
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