It was reported earlier this year that physical attacks against New York Police Department officers reached unprecedented levels. Experts noted to the New York Post that anti-cop rhetoric and woke policies emboldening criminals have been fueling the rising number of attacks against cops.

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry told the paper that "well over 5,000 cops were attacked and injured last year" but that they "didn’t come out of nowhere. This dangerous environment has been building for years. ... It’s not going to get better until those who attack police officers are consistently prosecuted and kept in jail. And that won’t happen unless New Yorkers keep speaking up to demand an end to the chaos.”

'Let 'em whup his ass! Let 'em whup his ass!'

A 28-year-old female NYPD officer added to the Post that "everyone wants to fight.” She said she was assaulted while handcuffing a shoplifting suspect — and while the officer added that she sprained her hand in the incident, the suspect was released from jail the same day.

The following are 10 gut-wrenching instances when thugs brutally attacked and injured police. In one heartbreaking case, an officer died just a few days after he was pummeled.

Punk on parole accused of punching cop in face, breaking his nose — and judge releases suspect with no bail

A male with a long criminal record who was out on parole was accused of punching a Yonkers, New York, police officer in the face last September, breaking the cop's nose. But despite assault charges against the suspect and the district attorney's request for $150,000 bail, a judge decided to release the suspect with no bail, WCBS-TV reported. Police answered a Sept. 6 call concerning an unresponsive man on the sidewalk near Cypress Street and Yonkers Avenue, the station said. Officers on the scene tried to convince 39-year-old Johnny McCray to sit in an ambulance — and then McCray suddenly hauled off and punched a male officer in the nose, WCBS reported. According to the Yonkers Times, McCray was on parole through 2027 over a 2017 attempted robbery conviction for which he served most of his five-year prison sentence. The paper added that McCray had six felony and seven misdemeanor convictions on his record dating back over 20 years and had a history of not making court appearances. The punched officer went on leave after his injury, WCBS said, adding that he had just transferred to Yonkers from Bedford, which the station described as a "quiet community in northern Westchester." The judge reportedly decided on a no-bail release with GPS monitoring as the best way to guarantee McCray would return to court.

Trio of siblings convicted of aggravated battery against a police officer — and it all started with a stop sign violation

An officer with the Aurora, Illinois, police department on June 21, 2021, conducted a traffic stop for a stop sign violation, the Kane County State's Attorney's Office said. Paul Sherrod Taylor was driving the car, and his sisters — Jennifer M. Taylor and Sheba A. Taylor — were in the vehicle. Within seconds of the stop, Sheba Taylor exited the vehicle and refused to re-enter it despite the officer's orders, and then Paul Sherrod Taylor exited the car, aggressively approached and threatened the officer, and refused to re-enter the car as well.

Paul Sherrod Taylor shoved the officer, who was trying to handcuff him, and fled. The officer chased him on foot, after which Paul Sherrod Taylor stopped, turned, and aggressively faced off with the officer by putting up his fists and getting in a fighting stance while yelling at the officer to “keep running, boy.” The officer decided to wait for backup, but as he turned to walk toward his squad car, the Taylor sisters attacked him and repeatedly struck him. A police news release said the two female passengers began striking the officer with closed fists and kicking his body and head. The release states that the officer heard a male voice and then was struck repeatedly in the head from several angles, and a female passenger placed her forearm around the officer’s neck and applied significant force to his windpipe, causing him to lose the ability to breathe.

Paul Sherrod Taylor called 911 and threatened the officer to a dispatcher, stating multiple times that he would “kill” the officer unless police arrived immediately, and he was heard repeatedly screaming at the officer that “I’m going to kill you, bitch," the state attorney general's office said. Arriving officers saw Sheba Taylor sitting on the officer's chest and neck as Jennifer Taylor held him down; the arriving officers had to physically remove them. You can check out police video of the incident here.

The Taylor sisters each were sentenced to 120 days of imprisonment in the Kane County jail, 200 hours of community service, and four years of probation for committing aggravated battery against the officer. Their brother received a three-year sentence in the state Department of Corrections for aggravated battery to a police officer, threatening a public official, aggravated assault of a police officer, and resisting a peace officer, the state's attorney's office added.

Thug beats cop's face bloody in brutal attack livestreamed on Facebook while laughing onlookers encourage suspect

A North Carolina police officer was airlifted to a hospital after he was beaten while trying to make an arrest in October 2020 — and the attack was livestreamed on Facebook, left his face bloody, and featured laughing onlookers. The video lasted 11 minutes, WPDE reported, adding that the officer — who was repeatedly punched in the face — asked a man for assistance, but the man refused. While the video shows one man pulling the attacker away from the officer, another man is heard saying, "Let 'em whup his ass! Let 'em whup his ass!" Authorities charged Jamel Alphonso Rogers with assault with a deadly weapon with intentions to kill while inflicting serious injuries, kidnapping, and two counts of resisting a public officer, the station said. The officer suffered a broken nose and several facial cuts, WBTW-TV reported.

Suspect who allegedly helped beat up NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed officer, other cops amid Brooklyn Bridge protest released without bail

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A bloody brawl broke out on the Brooklyn Bridge between violent protesters and New York City Police Department officers in July 2020 during which eight officers were injured, including a sergeant, lieutenant, and Chief of Department Terence Monahan, the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed officer. One police officer lost consciousness during the incident. Lt. Richard Mack with the department's Strategic Response Group was struck several times in the face, resulting in the fracture of his orbital bones and 12 stitches on his face. Quran Campbell, 25, was accused of physically attacking Mack, Monahan, and another officer — but he was released without bail after his arraignment on assault charges in Manhattan criminal court. Monahan said morale among NYPD officers is "as low as it's been in a long time," adding to Fox News that "on the street corners, there is a feeling that they don't have to listen to the police, and that they're willing to fight the police officers."

Officer beaten so severely in sneak attack that he was found in a pool of blood and with a dent in his forehead; he died soon after

Cpl. Keith Heacook of the Delmar (Del.) Police Department responded alone to a call about a fight in a home in April 2021, after which he was found unconscious in a pool of blood, apparently having been bludgeoned with his own baton, which was missing from its holster, a police source told Blaze News. Heacock was repeatedly hit so violently that there was a dent in his forehead, the source told Blaze News. A witness in the home reportedly claimed to have seen suspect Randon Wilkerson "throat-stomping" the officer. Heacock died a few days later, and Wilkerson — who was convicted of killing Heacook — was sentenced in December 2023 to two consecutive life sentences for murder charges and over 200 years for other offenses, DelawareOnline reported. The victim's son, Matthew, was 12 at the time of his father's murder and said in an impact statement that he "curled in a ball on the floor and cried for what seemed like hours" after he received the tragic news, the outlet added.

Male caught on police bodycam video charging at female officer, striking her with claw hammer

Police in Middletown, Connecticut, said Detective Karli Travis was investigating a complaint about noise and broken glass at a residence around 6:30 a.m. Aug. 12, 2023. Travis' bodycam video shows a man later identified as 52-year-old Winston Tate charging at the officer with a claw hammer. Authorities said Tate struck Travis with the hammer at least four times, Fox News reported. Travis responded by shooting Tate several times. Tate was charged with attempted first-degree assault, second-degree assault, assault on a police officer, and interfering with police. He was out on probation for assaulting another officer and had at least 30 prior arrests — including a third attack on an officer – and 14 convictions within the past six years, Fox News added, citing court records. He was jailed on more than $1 million bail, the cable news network said. The detective suffered significant bruising and also was recovering from a gunshot wound to her hand, Fox News said.

Thug smashes glass bottle on NYPD officer's head in unprovoked attack caught on bodycam video; suspect was arrested twice before for assaulting cops

The incident took place around 4:50 a.m. July 18, 2021, as a 67th Precinct officer stood on a street corner in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, WABC-TV reported. Bodycam video shows the suspect walking toward the officer and speaking, after which the officer raises his right hand in an apparent attempt to prevent the suspect from getting any closer to him. Seconds later, it appears the suspect moves closer to the officer, after which the officer appears to move the suspect backward with his right hand. The suspect reacts by taking a swing at the officer with a glass bottle, the station said. Police said officers caught up with the suspect and arrested him a block away, WABC reported. The attacked officer needed staples to close a wound to the left side of his head, the station said, adding that he also was cut on his hand, elbow, and left knee. The suspect — 27-year-old Tyshaun Holloway of Hackensack, New Jersey — was charged with assault, menacing, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, and criminal possession of a weapon, WABC reported. The station said Holloway was arrested twice in 2016 for assaulting officers in the Bronx and that he also has been arrested for two attempted robberies, making terroristic threats, and fare evasion.

Woman charged with aggravated battery against 4 Chicago cops is released 1 day after arrest — the first day cash bail is eliminated across Illinois

Esmeralda Aguilar, 24, was arrested after the incident that took place at 2:38 a.m. Sept. 17, 2023, in the 200 block of North Wabash Avenue, police said. Aguilar shot pepper spray toward a group of officers during Mexican Independence Day festivities in the Loop, CWB Chicago reported, adding that two officers were hospitalized. Aguilar was released the day after her arrest — the same day the Pretrial Fairness Act — part of the controversial SAFE-T Act — went into effect, Fox News said. The new law allows the release of charged individuals if they don't pose a danger to the community or are flight risks, the cable news network added.

After a separate incident on the same weekend, prosecutors charged Arturo Rodriguez, 46, with felony aggravated battery of a peace officer, the Chicago Tribune reported. They alleged Rodriguez on Sept. 17, 2023, hit a police officer lying on the ground in the back of the head with a wooden flagpole as officers tried to pursue and arrest two teens, the paper said, citing court records. The Tribune, citing a police report, said officers had been blocking traffic at the corner of West 26th Street and South Homan Avenue before the 1 a.m. attack. Vehicles with flags were in the streets throughout the neighborhood of Little Village for Mexican Independence Day, the paper said.

Thug takes swing at cop's face, knocks her flat on her back amid suspected shoplifting; bone in officer's face broken

A male was caught on video taking a swing at a New York City police officer's face and knocking her flat on her back outside a Duane Reade pharmacy in Manhattan's Murray Hill neighborhood in December 2021. You can watch surveillance video of the attack here. The clip shows the officer blocking the doorway and apparently speaking to the suspect when he grabs the officer, shoves her away, and exits through the doorway. The officer fights back and grabs the suspect as he continues to attempt to get away, but the suspect turns and punches the officer in the face, sending her tumbling backward and landing feet away and through the entrance of the store on East 34th Street. The officer suffered a fractured bone in her face and cuts to her ear, WABC-TV reported, adding that she was taken to a hospital in stable condition following the attack.

Mob swarms, physically attacks cop, punching and kicking him, after he responded alone to shots-fired call; one thug cackles that he caught beatdown on video

The incident took place on the night of June 3, 2021, in Jacksonville, Florida. Individuals in a crowd that the officer approached surrounded him and pushed him to the ground, punching and kicking him and shouting expletives at him. A video news report shows part of the attack captured on cellphone video, and the person who recorded it reportedly ran off laughing about the attack and how he caught it on video. Authorities arrested 23-year-old Jermisha Ramsey in connection with the attack and charged her with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and street fighting. WTLV-TV reported that the officer suffered "multiple abrasions" in the attack.

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