Fifth Suspect Charged in Alleged Assault on New York Police at Protest

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - A fifth person has been charged in connection with assaulting two New York City police lieutenants during a political demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge last month, officials said on Friday.

Police are searching for the remaining two suspects in the Dec. 13 attack during the height of demonstrations over decisions by grand juries to return no charges against white police officers in the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City.

Jarrod Shanahan, 29, surrendered to authorities on Thursday, and was charged with crimes including assault on a police officer and resisting arrest, NYPD spokesman Carlos Nieves said.

Shanahan is accused of joining a group of protesters who police say punched and kicked the officers as they tried to arrest a man for attempting to throw a trash can onto a road below the bridge, where other protesters and police were walking, according to a police statement.

One of the officers suffered a broken nose and both were cut and bruised in the altercation, police said. The bridge connects the borough of Brooklyn with lower Manhattan.

A $25,000 reward was offered shortly after the incident by crime reporting program Crime Stoppers and civic group Citizens Outraged at Police Being Shot for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those accused of the crime.

Four other suspects - Cindy Gorn, 29, Robert Murray, 43, Maria Garcia, 36 and Zachary Campbell, 32 - have been arrested and charged in connection with aiding in the assault, police said.

The latest arrest comes ahead of the funeral on Sunday for the second of two NYPD officers who were shot dead in their patrol car by a man who said he was avenging the recent killings by law enforcement.

The shooting of the two officers has triggered a backlash against the protest movement and a political storm for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had offered qualified support for the protests.

Supporters of the police have criticized the mayor for saying he had told his own son, who is biracial, to be wary of any dealings with law enforcement because of his racial appearance.

After the shooting, the head of the city's largest police union said de Blasio had "blood on his hands" because his remarks had encouraged violence against the slain officers. (Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Bill Trott)