NEW YORK - A correction officer is recovering after being assaulted at Rikers Island Thursday morning.

The city Department of Correction tells NY1 it happened around 4:30 a.m. at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island.

The officer was trying to help an inmate going to court when he was attacked.

He suffered only minor injuries and the inmate has been removed from the general population.

In a statement, the DOC called the incident deeply troubling and says they have zero tolerance for violent behavior towards officers.

Meanwhile, the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association is claiming this is just the latest example of the city's failed criminal justice approach.

In a statement, COBA President Elias Husamudeen went on to say, "The culture of violence brought to us from the streets is going to return to the streets if inmates like this are let go. Instead of giving inmates who assault our members a free pass or making us wait seven years for safer jails, the City needs to start listening to us and make the jails safer now."