NYPD cop charged with using chokehold, banned after George Floyd killing

A New York City Police (NYPD) officer has been charged with allegedly using a chokehold that was banned following the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Omar Habib, 40, was arrested Thursday and arraigned in Bronx County on charges of second-degree strangulation, second-degree criminal obstruction of breathing or circulation, third-degree assault and unlawful methods of restraint, according to a news release from Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.

On July 29, 2023, Habib was on duty when he responded to a call at a diner in the Bronx neighborhood of New Rochelle. When a “drunk and disorderly” man refused to be arrested, Habib allegedly placed him in a chokehold so tight it stopped his breathing and circulation, causing him to temporarily lose consciousness.

Jacob Z. Weinstein, Habib’s lawyer, said Newsweek by email Friday afternoon that Habib “will be completely exonerated of all charges.”

The chokehold used by Habib was banned after police officer Derek Chauvin killed Floyd, a black man, by kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. Floyd’s killing sparked a political uproar in the United States with a series of civil rights protests against police brutality, some of which turned violent. Chauvin was convicted of Floyd’s murder and sentenced in June 2021 to 22 1/2 years in prison.

District Attorney Clark said in a press release issued Thursday: “The defendant allegedly violated his oath of office by using a technique to subdue a suspect that is expressly prohibited by New York City law. Police officers must follow the law.”

An NYPD spokesperson said: Newsweek By email Friday afternoon, Habib was suspended without pay.

Habib’s indictment is the first of a Bronx County police officer under a New York City law that prohibits a person from restraining another “in a manner that restricts the flow of air or blood by compressing the windpipe or carotid arteries on either side of the neck, or by sitting, kneeling or standing on the chest or back in a manner that compresses the diaphragm, during the course of an arrest or attempted arrest.”

The now suspended officer was released and will return to court on October 15.

Habib, who joined the NYPD in 2007, has a history of substantiated misconduct complaints involving excessive use of force and abuse of authority, according to The Associated Press.

In 2017, Habib allegedly put a resident of a Bronx assisted living facility in a chokehold for calling him and others “fuckin’ Keystone Kops,” according to The City, a Bronx newspaper, which cited interviews and Internal Affairs documents.