A disturbing newly released video shows the moment a bystander put a New York City police officer in a chokehold as cops tried to break up a crowd.

The two officers were reportedly trying to disperse a group of people gathered on a corner in the Bronx on July 1, but they soon found themselves surrounded by a jeering mob.

Footage released by the Sergeant’s Benevolent Society on Twitter shows the two cops struggling to put a handcuffed man in a police cruiser before wrestling him to the ground. They eventually pin the man to the pavement and one of the officers is then seen lunging at a bystander.

The bystander and officer wrestle for a moment before the bystander puts the cop in a chokehold – the same maneuver that is set to be banned under a City Council bill in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the ongoing protests against police brutality and racism.

As the bystander grips the officer by the neck, another person in the crowd can be heard shouting ‘Fuck him up! Fuck him up!’

The bystander then hurls the officer to the ground before he is pulled away from the scene by another man.

‘COREY JOHNSON your STUPID law is about to be signed by NYC STUPID Mayor it’s time you both take your community input & grab these perps yourself,’ the SBA wrote in the post, referencing the Speaker of the New York City Council.

The NYC police union posted the video in an apparent attempt to express its outrage over the new bill, which has yet to be signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, that would outlaw any restrictive hold that impedes a suspect’s airflow. Any officer found to have used such a maneuver would be charged with a misdemeanor under the bill and would be subject to up to a year in jail.

A police source told The New York Post that they have identified the ‘headlocker.’ They said he is a known gang member who turned himself into a police a week after the incident, adding that the cop in the video suffered a cut to his head that required staples.

However, the suspect’s lawyer reportedly said they believe video of the encounter would exonerate his client because the officer was seen lunging at him first, according to The Post.

Police have not yet released the suspect’s identity and it is unclear what charges he faces.

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