There is a silver line on the video of a NYPD policeman who apparently used illegal chokehold on a suspect, Mayor Mayor Bill de Blasio said today.

“Two things happened in this incident that we have not seen enough in the past,” De Blasio said during his daily press conference on Monday. “The appearance of immediate action is very fast – a delay within a few hours and the beginning of a greater discipline process. And we saw other officers intervening, and that represented the best of our police not to allow such a thing to happen. “

Officer David Afanador – who was seen with his arm around the neck of a man on his stomach when he was arrested on the Rockaway causeway – was suspended for hours after the video of the incident was published.

NYPD quickly released more than 30 minutes of body-camera footage of the incident.

“This is the fastest NYPD has ever done,” said Hizzoner.

Then there was an unnamed officer who was seen patting Afanador’s shoulder to make him release the man who appeared to be unconscious.

“The future will be officers who step forward to stop bad things from happening, and stand up and live their oaths – and I have a lot of confidence that our officers will do that – and the department acts quickly and transparently to discipline whatever officers do the wrong thing, “de Blasio said, called the officer who intervened” the best of our police. “

De Blasio called the tape “disturbing to watch and unacceptable,” and said he did not know why the officer used the prohibited tactic “after everyone in the world knew that chokehold was bad.”

The incident also occurred a few days after the New York City Council made it a criminal offense for the police to use chokeholds.

But the mayor stopped to say whether Afanador should be criminally charged.

“I didn’t get into DA work,” he said. “I respect their judgment. What I focus on is the part that we control which is a NYPD disciplinary process. “

During a Monday morning interview with NY1, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the NYPD had an “obligation to act quickly” because “this is an unprecedented time.”

Apart from the apparent chokehold, according to Shea, officers involved in the Sunday confrontation acted appropriately.

“I think it’s a completely different story when New Yorkers see what the officers are facing for 15 to 20 minutes,” the top policeman said. “As for the actions of the officers there yesterday, if you take a hand on the neck, we will not have this conversation now … I feel the presence of officers there yesterday, with all three – I will be kind and say gentlemen – on the causeway. And I feel for everyone who has to walk and ride a bicycle and have children walk with all three. “

Body camera footage shows the suspect and two other men arguing with police about the previous meeting, not seen in the initial cellphone video.

“They all talked about all kinds of crazy things to us. We did nothing. I do not care. Anyone can say whatever they want to us, “Afanador can be heard explaining to a female observer. “What changed everything was when he took something and left, and it would crash into my officer who was standing there.”

“That’s when everything changed,” he continued. “As soon as I saw him flexing, that’s when he fell, because we were not hurt and we will not allow someone who is committing violence here who might do that to one of you or other innocent people.”

The meeting came amid tensions over the death of George Floyd involving police, who were black – and protests that occurred across the country.

However, Shea said that she “did not believe there was systemic racism in the NYPD.”

“I think there is racism in the world, we are certainly not immune to it, you will have an isolated incident,” he explained. “I think we have a very professional police force. I thought we practiced as best we could, but we didn’t raise our hands and said we couldn’t do anything else. I think we continue to look for ways to become better. “