The Secret Police Recordings That Rocked a Community

For years, a tactical police unit in Mount Vernon, New York, reigned with impunity—protecting drug dealers, planting evidence, brutalizing citizens. Then one of its own started covertly documenting the abuse. [Image] [Image]( Abuse of Force One night in the spring of 2017, Michelle Campbell was in her kitchen, cooking hot dogs for a few friends, when she heard the boom of her front door breaking. It was the narcotics unit of the Mount Vernon, New York, police. They carried a search warrant and a battering ram. They swarmed in, guns drawn. The police ordered Campbell and her guests onto the floor and cuffed them. One officer, a detective in a tactical vest and a black hat named Camilo Antonini, surveyed the bodies. He singled out Campbell’s nephew, a skinny man with a scruffy beard and big eyes named Reginald Gallman. As Gallman would later testify in a civil case, Antonini pulled him into the bathroom, threw him against the water pipe, and pummeled his rib cage with swift, tight punches. Gallman asked why he was being beaten. “You know why, you stupid mother******, you dumb-ass n******,” he recalls the detective saying. The unit’s commander, a sergeant named Sean Fegan, came in and told Antonini to chill out. After five minutes, Gallman testified, he finally did. [Read the Full Story]( [Image] [Image]( Arsenio Hall Still Has Stories to Tell If you were aware of pop culture in the eighties and nineties, Arsenio Hall was inescapable. The Arsenio Hall Show changed the late-night game: It was looser, brighter, with an eye on the future. "Tommy Mottola comes up to me at The Ivy and says, ‘The lady with me, she is as gifted as Aretha.’" Arsenio listened to the demo Tommy handed him, booked the lady, and days later, Mariah Carey made her television debut. At Quincy Jones’ behest, Arsenio introduced Will Smith to Benny Medina, who pitched him The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in a dressing room. "The place became a clubhouse. The first time Michael Jackson came on the show, he wasn’t a booking. He was in back with orange juice and a mask on." Arsenio laughs. "He was way ahead of us on the mask thing." These are just a few true stories Arsenio Hall told Esquire’s Dave Holmes for a profile in our March 2021 issue, which you can now read on Esquire.com. Hall is an icon—a legend. And next month, he's back in Coming 2 America. Man, did we miss him. [Read the Full Story](  [Image]( February Is the Perfect Month to Buy Outerwear. J.Crew’s Wool Car Coat—and Its Price—Prove It. If you're sick and tired of wearing the same down-filled parka you've been hibernating in since December, or if you've been lighting up the group chat with a whole bunch of outerwear options you found on your own, J.Crew’s wool car coat might be the one that finally puts the conversation to rest. The coat in question was made out of a nubby Irish wool blend. It had raglan sleeves. It was cut generously, designed to cocoon softly around its wearer no matter how many layers were piled on beneath it. Best of all, it was on sale! Like, serious sale. Here’s Avidan Grossman on why we love it—and why you will, too. [Read the Full Story]( [Image]( The Best Documentaries on Netflix Right Now The documentary genre sometimes gets a bad rap. Perhaps you avoid documentaries like they’re a weird great uncle at family gatherings, insistent that he tell you about some new obscure species of bird he's just discovered. But if anyone deserves credit for breathing new life and intrigue back into the genre, it’s Netflix. The streamer has served up some of the craziest, most compelling, and complex deep dives on fascinating real-life stories in the past few years, providing some essential perspectives of our strange world. The best of Netflix's docs inspire even the most true-crime-avert to dip their toe into the mysterious water. Netflix’s documentaries are so widespread and influential that they have even reignited interest—and made developments—in some of the most high profile and criminal and murder cases of the last few decades. But with more than 36,000 hours of content on Netflix to choose from, it can be hard to decide what to dive into it. To help you out, we've narrowed down the best documentaries, if you’re itching to expand your mind or your true crime trivia knowledge. [Read the Full Story](  [Image]( 13 Pairs of Sneakers That Are as Comfortable As They Are Stylish The lost art of the long, leisurely stroll has made a serious comeback. Do you know how bad things have to be for people to take up walking as, like, an actual pastime? People used to avoid walking like the plague. But now—confronted with a very real plague that's still wreaking havoc—we're all walking everywhere we can with impunity. If that isn't a telltale indication we're living in the end times I'm honestly not sure what is. (Don't even get me started on "power walking." It's called running, you nerds. It's already a thing! Pick up the pace and power walk the hell out of here.) So if you're going to do it, at least do it right. Which means it's time to cop some proper walking gear. And sure, you could probably get away with wearing your comfiest pair of everyday beaters, but if you're serious about your newest hobby, it's worth investing in a pair of shoes specifically made with walking in mind. In other words, some sturdy-as-hell sneakers that provide ample cushioning and support, all while keeping your feet as protected as possible so you can get those steps in with relative ease. If you have no idea where to begin your search, we got you. Scroll through below to peep some of the best options available now. [Read the Full Story]( [Image]( ‘Beeple Mania’: How Mike Winkelmann Makes Millions Selling Pixels Beeple is an artist. He makes digital art—pixels on screens depicting bizarre, hilarious, disturbing, and sometimes grotesque images. He smashes together pop culture, technology, and postapocalyptic terror into blistering commentaries on the way we live. A recent frame depicted Donald Trump wearing a leather mask and stripper’s pasties, taking a whip to the coronavirus bug (title: "Trump Dominating Covid"). On the day Jeff Bezos announced he was kicking himself upstairs, Beeple imagined the Amazon founder as a massive, threatening octopus emerging from the ocean as military helicopters circled above ("Release the Bezos"). Beeple has 1.8 million Instagram followers. His work has been shown at two Super Bowl halftime shows and at least one Justin Bieber concert, but he has no gallery representation or foothold in the traditional art world. And yet in December the first extensive auction of his art grossed $3.5 million in a single weekend. How, though? Here, Mickey Rapkin dives into Beeple’s world and unpacks it all. [Read the Full Story](  Follow Us       [Unsubscribe](  [Privacy Notice](  esquire.com ©2021 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019   Â