


A 20-year veteran NYPD detective is trying to restore his good name after becoming a victim of what his supporters claim is wokeness run amok.
Bronx Homicide Detective Robert Klein was hit with a questionable complaint from a BLM protester who identifies as non-binary and alleged he was “discourteous,” according to documents and police sources.
Klein, 44, was accused of mistreating Christine Brown, a non-binary person, as he arrested them for allegedly assaulting an NYPD inspector at a chaotic November 2020 protest in Greenwich Village, records show.
Brown, who uses they/them pronouns, initially filed eight allegations against the officer, including that he used a banned chokehold against them.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated two complaints, discourtesy, and offensive language, records show.
The decision was made despite conflicting video evidence and was ultimately revised to “unable to determine,” but the damage was already done, police sources said.
“In today’s woke environment,” a law enforcement source said, “that’s the kiss of death.”
The Nov. 4, 2020 protest was memorable for the NYPD detective right out the door, as he was called to respond in uniform with other detectives.
“I wore my police uniform for the first time in almost 10 years at a large-scale demonstration,” he told the CCRB.
Things spiraled out of control at the protest at East 14th Street and Irving and Klein said he took action when a fellow cop was attacked, he continued.
“I observed a protester attempting to assault an NYPD inspector and I took action and made the arrest with force.”
Brown kicked Klein, scraping his shin — and he punched them in the face and made the arrest, according to CCRB records.
Brown was charged with assault, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration. Brown pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, records show.
About a year and a half later, Brown filed the CCRB complaint against him and other police officers.
The CCRB initially substantiated both complaints against Klein — discourtesy and cursing — putting the decision on his permanent record, available to the public online.
But body camera footage allegedly tells a different story, police sources said.
The suspect, then 23, never identifies as non-binary, Klein wrote in an Oct. 26, 2023, appeal letter to the CCRB obtained by The Post.
Klein said he told Brown to “calm the f–k down” when the protester was resisting and kicking him.
Then “the detective simply asked the protester, ‘Male or female?’ — so he could assign them to a prisoner transport vehicle, which are designated by gender,” according to a police source who saw the video.
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“The suspect became offended and said, ‘I’m not answering that question.’ So a female supervisor was called in to ask again and was told, ‘Don’t f–king ask me that question.’”
Non-binary is used to describe people who don’t believe their gender can be defined as traditional male or female.
Klein and his supervisor decided that they would put the protester in the vehicle with the female arrestees because of their appearance, the detective wrote.
After receiving Klein’s appeal, the CCRB changed its decision to “unable to determine” on both counts, an agency spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said she couldn’t explain why the determination was changed because it was not public.
The CCRB investigator on the case, Adri Denbroeder, a Barnard graduate, no longer works at the agency, the spokeswoman said.
They couldn’t be reached for comment.
CCRB Executive Director Jonathan Darche said the agency’s investigations are unbiased.
“There was no bias in this case on the part of investigators or board members,” Darche said in a statement.
But now, when Klein tries to find work after he retires, potential employers will see the case of an “undetermined” gender discrimination charge on his record.
“Once again, the cop-hating CCRB railroaded a well-respected detective to justify its existence and bloated budget,” said Detectives Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo. “This begs the question: who is overseeing the CCRB? They clearly can’t be trusted.”