#Tish James sides with goons against the NYPD

New York Attorney General Letitia James put herself clearly on the side of bottle-throwers and anarchists and against police with her claim that NYPD officers used excessive force in response to a destructive Black Lives Matter demonstration the night of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Monday event drew hundreds for a march from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, where cops clashed with protesters at City Hall Park.

AG James should listen to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who on Tuesday rightly called the not-peaceful protesters the “antithesis” of Dr. King, citing their “violence, throwing bottles, breaking property, calling for the death of officers [and] to burn the city down.”

James points to videos purportedly showing that cops acted too aggressively, saying they were “peaceful protesters.” But how would peaceful marchers have left 11 cops injured — including a captain struck in the head with a bottle?

In all his years of protests, always carefully organized to remain peaceful, Dr. King and his civil-rights marchers didn’t so much as damage a blade of grass, despite grievous provocation. Even cops who in some cases brutalized the marchers were safe, because the reverend knew that was the way to move the nation’s conscience.

It’s the AG’s duty to call out the provocateurs and thugs who use protests as an excuse to attack cops and tear down our city. That’s how to build bridges between police and the community.