A well-known NYPD protester who posted $10,000 bail and endured months of vilification in the press was falsely accused, video evidence now has proved.
Terrell Harper, 42, was arrested on charges of trying to break into the Brooklyn home of a New York Police Department officer during a protest on Sept. 23, 2024. But after prosecutors reviewed a video of the chaos outside the cop’s residence, all charges against Harper were dropped. The announcement came on May 23, 2025, exactly eight months after the incident.
“It was all lies. The whole protest was video recorded. That’s why it’s being dismissed today,” Harper, who goes by “Relly Rebel,” told the New York Daily News.
It all started on Sept. 22, when Harper and others gathered outside the 73rd Precinct House in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood to protest a wild subway shootout where officers fired on a knife-wielding suspect, injuring two innocent bystanders along with a fellow cop. While outside the police station, Harper claimed an officer “put his hands on protesters.” He then reportedly found the officer’s Brooklyn address in a public records search and headed to his house for a rally the next evening.
A video made the rounds on social media showing the protestors chanting the officer’s name and calling for him to come outside his home. Police at first accused Harper of lighting a hat on fire and tossing it over the fence. They ultimately charged him with burglary, coercion, inciting to riot, aggravated harassment, criminal mischief, tampering, arson, and menacing, all of which have now been vacated.
“Bro, none of it makes sense. The body cam at night, he was laughing. You know what I mean? Like it was a game,” Harper said of the officer’s demeanor during the protest, according to an Instagram post on May 23. However, the next day, Harper claimed he was told he would be hit with “serious charges” because the officer said you scared him and his family who felt threatened.
The long-time police provocateur is well-known to authorities and claims he was falsely accused in an attempt to shut him down. “Nobody did any of that. Nobody kicked no doors, touched anything. I believe it was one person that went over the fence but he was told to come right back. And that’s all in the video. Nobody destroyed any property or anything. We don’t do stuff like that. It was just a way of stopping me from protesting,” he stated.
But statements at Harper’s hearing back in September from Assemblyman Michael Reilly of Staten Island and the Police Benevolent Association hint at a larger agenda. Reilly leveraged the incident to demand stricter laws to protect police officers and their families. NYPD supporters want to resurrect a bill making stalking a cop a separate crime.
“This is a prime example of what we’re here for today, that this legislation should have been passed,” Reilly said. “If this was in place, maybe we could have prevented it from escalating. But until that happens, every one of our police officers are in danger. Why? Because we allowed them to get that information.”
Harper, whose Instagram bio says, “We Pig Hunting,” believes he was an easy target and is just glad this is behind him for now — and, judging by his posts, is already planning his next protest.
