‘He should never have a badge or gun again’ – former tennis star James Blake calls for police officer to be fired
Surveillance video of Blake's arrest outside a Manhattan hotel — and details about previous complaints over the officer’s use of force — have become public
Former tennis star James Blake, whose caught-on-camera takedown by a plainclothes New York City police officer prompted apologies from the mayor and police commissioner, said the officer who wrongly arrested him should be fired.
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“I don’t think this person should ever have a badge or a gun again,” Blake, 35, said a day after surveillance video of the arrest outside a Manhattan hotel – and details about previous complaints over the officer’s use of force – became public.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask,” he said.
This person doesn’t ever belong in the same sentence with the heroes that are doing the right kind of police work and keeping the public safe
James Blake
Blake, who had been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world before retiring after the 2013 US Open, was misidentified by a cooperating witness as being part of a scheme to sell fraudulently purchased merchandise when he was tackled, police have said.
The arresting officer, James Frascatore, who has been with the NYPD for four years, has been named in several civil rights lawsuits alleging excessive force.
He has also been the subject of four civilian complaints – an above-average number for NYPD officers, according to complaint data.
