The Associated Press | Jul. 28, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - Police have stripped a New York City officer of his badge and gun after a video posted on YouTube showed him body-checking a bicyclist who was part of a Times Square demonstration.

Witnesses say the video was recorded Friday at the Critical Mass ride, a monthly protest of urban reliance on vehicles.

The video, posted anonymously, shows the officer standing in the street as bikes whiz past. He moves toward a cyclist and violently knocks him to the ground in front of crowds of people.

Police have placed the officer on desk duty pending the outcome of a department investigation. His identity wasn't released.

Watch the mentioned YouTube video below: