On Monday night, protestors took to the streets of New York City over the shocking death of Jordan Neely, who was choked to death by a former marine while riding the subway. The New York City Police Department eventually shut the protest, using their usual set of fair and just tactics such as demanding that people stop exercising their right to protest, and then arresting them for resisting arrest.
This time, however, NYPD officers also uncovered some horrifying melee weapons, like this:
Yes, you see, that's a bottle of Topo Chico carbonated mineral water. The name "molotov cocktails" typically implies that the bottle contains a flammable liquid, such as alcohol — ya know, so it explodes, splintering flaming glass shards across the street. That's sort of the whole point of it as a makeshift incendiary device. Carbonated Mineral Water, however, is not flammable. In fact you could even use it to help put out a fire (though still water is probably a better idea).
Now, is it possible that someone filled this glass bottle with alcohol or gasoline or some other flammable liquid? Sure. Hell, it wouldn't be unreasonable for a police officer to pour the flammable liquid out of the bottle before taking it back to the office for a PR photoshoot. But even if that were the case, it sure seems odd that the only alleged Molotov Cocktail they could recover was one made from a water bottle.
But hey, what really matters is that "Violence has no place in civic demonstration," right?
(NYC Mayor Eric Adams also later repeated the Molotov Cocktail claim at a press conference.)
