The bloody rampage would have continued if not for intervention of neighbors. The demonstration took place on what would have been Anthony Rosario's 20th birthday. Young Baez died after being held in a chokehold by an arresting officer. Baez was taken into custody by the officer who was angered when a football thrown by Baez accidentally hit a patrol car. Jose Gonzalez said he was arrested for working on his car while the vehicle was stranded on the street.
People talk about ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.
The cases of Baez, Vega and Rosario were among the more than 90 instances of brutality by members of the New York Police Department included in a 72-page report released June 29 by Amnesty International. Police officers killed 11 people in 1990 and 23 in 1994. According to the report most of the victims of police violence had not committed crimes but were, instead bystanders or citizens attempting to stop acts of police brutality. One case concerned Ron Narr, a white artist who was beaten by undercover police officers after confronting police who were beating an African American lying on the ground.