BUT WILL IT HELP IT CATCH THE ISRAELI WOMAN WHO SLAPPED A PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTER ON THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE?

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The Free Lance has exclusively obtained the first images of the NYPD's new surveillance drone in action.

It was used by the NYPD to surveil a pro-Palestinian protest that traversed the heart of New York City on Saturday. About 10,000 demonstrators gathered at Brooklyn Museum before marching through downtown Brooklyn then across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan before ending at Union Square.

The drone was first spotted flying in the air above Centre Street at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was rectangular in shape, with six propellers. A bright, green light blinked from its top. A slim, fluorescent orange cable tethered the drone to a black SUV. The tether rose out of a black, suitcase-sized box affixed to the top of the SUV. 

Protesters were about to leave the roadway of the iconic bridge when its operator lowered the NYPD drone from the sky. The drone disappeared into the black box atop the black SUV. As it landed, an NYPD officer exited the SUV and walked around it, visually confirming the drone had landed and confirming it belonged to the NYPD.

Photo/video Credit: JB Nicholas.

The NYPD acquired its first drones with no public notice or oversight in 2018. It used drones 13 times to make 239 arrests during demonstrations that erupted in New York last week over Israel's war against the Palestinian people, the New York Post reported on Saturday. 

Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said he believed police surveillance drones helped the NYPD head-off protesters intent on storming Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis's office last week. Drone footage is live-streamed to the NYPD’s Joint Operations Center at One Police Plaza in Manhattan. It allows supervisors to see for themselves what’s happening on the street and more-quickly deploy forces to potential trouble spots.

“We were able to get ahead of that because we knew which way they were going,” Daughtry said.

Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, says he wants to see the NYPD use drones aggressively. There was an "endless" potential of applications, he said. He also said Israel's use of security technology was a good blueprint for New York City to follow, a week after he visited Israel in August, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, video footage emerged capturing a woman with an Israeli accent assaulting a pro-Palestinian protester on the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Fuck Palestine!” and "You deserve death!" the woman said as she slapped the victim, the video shows.

Bizarrely, the woman also threatened the victim with a sex crime, according to the video: "I'm gonna pee on you if I could." 

Bystanders intervened and separated the woman from the protesters.

No word on whether the NYPD's drone captured the alleged assault, or whether it will help it track down the perp—who has already been identified on X, the Internet public square formerly known as Twitter.

The NYPD were seeking her Sunday evening, it said.

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