According to church officials, two police officers (one later identified as belonging to the intelligence division) asked to use the bathroom but instead "entered the sanctuary, one remaining near the door while the other advanced down the aisle, apparently counting the demonstrators in the pews." Then, one officer went downstairs to a homeless women's shelter and "asked for information about who was sleeping there" without identifying himself or showing his badge. The church's Rev. James Karpen called the police actions "invasive":
"It is disconcerting that they would actually enter the sanctuary," said the Rev. James Karpen, known as Reverend K, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, on West 86th Street. "Here we had offered hospitality and safety, which is our business as a church; it just felt invasive." [...]
"They are welcome to come in if they just say who they are," Mr. Karpen said. "We have never had that kind of issue with the police before. Usually, they are very respectful of church-state issues."
Comment: This looks very brutal, the officer in the still images of the video's above has the appearance of watering flowers. True pathology.