Woman Says NYPD Arrested Her for Laughing at Them

A woman says that she was arrested by NYPD officers after laughing at cops in a stopped squad car. Nabihah Ahmad (@ahmadnabihah) posted a recounting of her experience on TikTok, which included video footage of her arrest, along with a narration of what she says went down.

"Today I was arrested by the NYPD and falsely accused on three violations and I observed a power trip right before my eyes," the TikToker writes in a text overlay of her video.

Nabihah's clip begins with her recording herself and several NYPD officers surrounding her. Following this, the TikTok transitions to footage of her sitting in a holding cell.

Nabihah then appears to attribute her arrest due to the fact that she's a "person of color in New York." Four of the police officers shown at the onset of the video are not white.

The TikToker goes on to state that non-white complexions are "seen as a threat by the New York Police Department."

She explains that her incident occurred on Saturday, May 31 while biking to a Yoga class with her sister. While stopped at a red light, she was adjacent to a police car with an open window. Nabiha says that she looked over to the officers, chuckled, and continued to ride her bike.

Further up the street, there was a puddle in the bike lane, which she circumvented in order to avoid being splashed. This caused her to end up in front of the officer's car, which then turned on its sirens. Nabiha thought that there was some emergency the officers needed to get to.

This prompted her to switch lanes and continue to her yoga class and then she made a turn, which was in a "congestion zone." Since automobiles were parked on either side of the street, Nabiha says she couldn't access the bike lane.

Looking back, she noticed the sirens again, and not long after a cop car swerved in front of her. At this point, the TikToker states, she realized the cops activated their sirens for her. After getting out of the vehicle, they asked Nabihah for her ID, however, all she had with her was her phone and tote bag.

She informed them that she didn't have any identification on her because she was going to work out, but the cops kept asking her for her ID card.

Nabihah recorded her conversation with the cops and asked why they stopped her. One of the cops referenced that when they were stopped at the light she looked at him and smiled.

He then asked her to "stop playing a game" and to get off the CitiBike she was seated on. Nabihah complied, still recording the conversation. The female officer then moved the bicycle out of the way and told the TikToker that all she had to do was simply move out of the way when she saw sirens going off behind her.

During her discussion with the police, Nabiha yells at the officers stating that her movement was inhibited and that she didn't have anywhere to move. At this point in the video, the officer repeatedly asks for her identification and she again tells him that she isn't carrying it.

The cop then informs her that he's going to take Nabihah to the precinct, and she complies. Following this, the officers then tell her to "put [her] phone down." She explains that she kept recording this entire time after placing the phone in her back pocket.

Furthermore, Nabihah explained that she didn't have her rights read to her nor was she told "why [she] was being arrested." Once inside the precinct, officers asked her her name, address, and phone number, then she said she was placed in a jail cell.

Officers then told her that she was asked to remove the drawstring from her jeans, which ended up ruining them. Moreover, she says that the request ultimately put her in a position where she had to go against her personal religious beliefs by showing her "skin."

Nabihah added that "the male cop was being extremely rude" and accused her of "pretending to be the victim" throughout the ordeal. Ultimately, Nabihah says that she was "charged with three violations" and accompanying tickets.

However, after visiting the URL to address these tickets, Nabihah says that she was taken to a 404 error page.

Toward the end of her clip, Nabihah gave a summation of her experience of being stopped by NYPD officers.

"These charges felt more like a response to ego and not violence. The cops saw me chuckling and thought I was a threat. I asked both of them directly that if I were a blonde white girl would you have brought me in?"

She says that after asking the officers this question, they "stopped their body cam footage." Going on, she stated that the issue isn't simply about her experience, but rather how resources are being used. According to CBCNY, the department's budget for 2024 was listed at $10.8 billion.

She questioned if acts like this are "the best use of our public funds" in New York. "We deserve systems that prioritize safety. It's time we reassess how our police are funded. NYC can do better."