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A New York City police union has been criticized for comparing a professional football player to an animal after the authorities said he punched a sergeant and refused to pay his cab fare in Queens.

The union, the Sergeants’ Benevolent Association, on Saturday said on Twitter that Trevor Bates, a linebacker for the Detroit Lions, acted “beyond that of a wild animal.” The tweet drew outcry from people who believed the language used in the statement was inappropriate.

Joo-Hyun Kang, the director of Communities United for Police Reform, a coalition of grass-root and civil liberties groups, called the union’s characterization of Mr. Bates “racist” and said it fit a pattern of union officials using racist language to target black people. She pointed out that just last week, the head of the city’s rank-and-file officers’ union referred to a 16-year-old sentenced for dragging a police officer outside a car, leaving him with critical injuries, as a “mutt.”

“If the allegations against Bates, including not paying his cab fare are true, he should be held accountable. But the constant use by N.Y.P.D. unions of racist dog whistles to dehumanize and criminalize black communities must be condemned, and end,” she said.