A new class action lawsuit accuses the New York Police Department (NYPD) of inflicting police violence on peaceful protesters in June.
Lead plaintiff Samira Sierra and others allege officers used batons, pepper spray, and other means to assault “Black and Latinx” people at a peaceful Bronx protest June 4, “in an operation that evoked the Edmund Pettus Bridge attack.”
According to the class action lawsuit, people gathered at The Hub in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx around 6 p.m. June 4 to demonstrate for racial justice and an end to police violence in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May.
The protesters marched through Mott Haven from The Hub, but the plaintiffs say the NYPD planned “to instill fear in the protesters and others who might join them in further non-violent protests for racial justice and police reform,” following and accompanying protesters as they marched.
The march progressed peacefully, the class action lawsuit states, with “no instances of violence by protesters against any police officer, or anyone else, and the protesters were cooperative with police directions.”
When the group reached East 136th Street, officers blocked off the end of the block at Brook Avenue, the plaintiffs say, at which point a “squad” of officers on bicycles rode in, using the bikes to barricade the street.
A second “squad” of NYPD officers moved in behind the demonstrators, “completely encircling and trapping them in a police maneuver known as ‘kettling.’”
At that point, the plaintiffs say, protesters were not allowed to leave the area, and hundreds were “seized and arrested” before the curfew took effect at 8 p.m.
The plaintiffs claim the NYPD at no point ordered them to disperse or tell them to leave the street; rather, the police acted as escorts for the entire length of the march.
Protesters being held in the kettle allegedly asked officers to allow them to leave the area, but they were not permitted to do so.
“With the protesters trapped,” the complaint says, “the NYPD launched the next phase of its plan.”
In some cases, NYPD officers moved protesters’ face masks or face shields in order to spray the pepper spray directly in their faces.
Many of the protesters left the area “injured and bleeding,” while others fainted, lost consciousness or convulsed, the class action lawsuit alleges.
At that point, officers “began to systematically arrest the kettled protesters,” the plaintiffs claim. Some were thrown down violently before being handcuffed.
In addition, officers allegedly pulled protesters from the kettle, using unnecessary police violence to bring their arms behind their backs and applying tighter-than-necessary zip-tie cuffs.
The plaintiffs say no one arrested received a summons while on the scene, but were transported to “an arrest processing facility.”
The class action lawsuit accuses most of the NYPD officers involved of not wearing a face mask or shield, potentially exposing protesters to coronavirus.
Some of the arrested protesters spent 20 hours or longer in custody, the plaintiffs say. Even so, the Bronx district attorney’s office filed a motion in September to dismiss all charges against the 312 people arrested during the Mott Haven police violence protest.
“We had a plan which was executed nearly flawlessly in the Bronx,” the police commissioner allegedly said later, repeating New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s acknowledgement that “what happened in Mott Haven … is something that the NYPD saw coming,” the class action lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs in the Mott Haven police violence class action lawsuit claim the NYPD violated their First, Fourth and 14th amendment rights during the June 4 protest.
Sierra and the other plaintiffs are asking the Court to declare the defendants’ policies and practices unconstitutional. They also seek awards of compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, court costs, interest and any other relief deemed proper.
Have you experienced police violence during a peaceful protest? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Joshua S. Moskovitz; Michael L. Spiegel; and Lance A. Clarke and Jason Clark of Hamilton Clarke LLP.
The NYPD Police Violence Class Action Lawsuit is Samira Sierra, et al. v. City of New York, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-10291, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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