A CUNY professor whose poetry includes the line “F–k the police” was busted early Sunday for allegedly attacking two NYPD lieutenants who tried to stop him from tossing a garbage can on cops from an elevated Brooklyn Bridge walkway.
Eric Linsker, 29, of Brooklyn allegedly brought a backpack holding three hammers and a black ski mask to the massive anti-cop march that turned violent around 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Linsker and the other protesters ran away after kicking and punching the two cops — one of whom suffered a broken nose — but he was tracked down through evidence found in his bag, which had been left behind, sources said.
Linsker was nabbed by members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force around 3:45 a.m., sources said.
He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Sunday evening in Manhattan Criminal Court, where Judge Abraham Clott denied a prosecution request to set bail at $25,000 cash and released Linsker on his own recognizance.
The DA’s Office said Linsker was accused in “a very violent event” and had been carrying his passport “in an attempt to flee the country and evade arrest.”
Many of about 20 supporters who joined Linsker in court laughed out loud at that allegation.
Linsker, a Harvard grad and award-winning poet who currently teaches English at Baruch College and Queens College, faces charges including assault, riot, attempted robbery and pot possession.
The robbery charge covers the attempted theft of the cops’ radios and police jackets — which one law-enforcement source said could be used to cause mayhem if they fell into the wrong hands.
“Professional agitators, that’s what they do. They would put over false messages and lead guys into traps, or give false orders that make us look aggressive. Just to know all our movements would help them,” the source said.
During a press conference about the attack, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism John Miller said cops suspect the gear inside Linsker’s bag was meant to be used in a riot.
“This is relatively common in our experience with groups that operate within the protesters, who seek out confrontations,” Miller said.
Video credit: Chris Nooney
“They put the masks on, they use hammers, wrenches, and other objects to either commit assaults or property damage.”
“So this bag was basically constructed with those items to appear to be a kit for such purposes,” he added.
At Linsker’s Crown Heights apartment, roommate Chris Balmer, a friend since childhood, said Linsker was “pretty outraged” when a grand jury recently cleared an NYPD cop of criminal wrongdoing in the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
Balmer also said Linsker’s recent poetry “has become more political. Police brutality has been a big topic he’s written about recently.”
“He’s not a violent person but he has very strong beliefs that there are problems with our current system and police, and he wants to do something about it,” Balmer added.
In a rambling, profanity-laced poem published online by adult-mag.com, Linsker wrote: “F–k the police/To rise as you/Disappear below current/Interpretations of observations/F–k the police.”
Defense lawyer Martin Stolar, who has previously represented “Occupy Wall Street” protesters denied the allegations against Linsker, who he said grew up in Westchester and was currently attending Teachers College at Columbia University.
“Eric merely picked up a garbage can, and when told by police to put it down he complied,” Stolar said.
Linsker is due back in court on March 23. It was unclear when or if prosecutors would present his case to a grand jury.
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton and Aaron Feis
