Break The Law, Get Rewarded: Dem NYC Expected To Pay RECORD Settlement To George Floyd Protesters

Written By BlabberBuzz | Friday, 03 March 2023 10:45 PM
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Break The Law, Get Rewarded: Dem NYC Expected To Pay RECORD Settlement To George Floyd Protesters

New York City and the NYPD have agreed to pay a total of $7 million to protesters who were restrained with zip ties, battered with batons, and pepper sprayed during a mass arrest class action lawsuit.

The settlement totals $21,500 per person, making it the highest per-person settlement award in such a lawsuit.

The incident occurred on June 4, 2020, when around 300 people marched through the Bronx to protest the killing of George Floyd. As an 8 p.m. curfew approached, police used their bicycles to form a wall and prevent the protesters from moving forward while other officers pushed from behind - a tactic known as "kettling."

Just after the curfew, police "moved in on the protesters, unprovoked and without warning, whaling their batons, beating people from car tops, shoving them down to the ground, and firing pepper spray in their faces," according to a Human Rights Watch report.

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Several protesters filed a complaint against New York City and NYPD officials in October 2020, alleging a pre-planned assault on peaceful protesters. Although Mayor Bill de Blasio was dismissed from the suit in 2021, the case against the NYPD and the city continued for two years.

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Plaintiffs' attorney Ali Frick expressed satisfaction with the settlement, saying: "The highest levels of the NYPD coordinated a pre-planned assault on peaceful protesters, and we're gratified that this historic settlement will provide some measure of justice to those who suffered from this brutality. We hope this historic award forces the City to finally account for how it polices peaceful demonstrations."

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The New York Police Department stated that the demonstration occurred during a challenging time for officers, who "were suffering under the strains of a global pandemic" and had to balance protesters' rights with public safety.

"Two-and-a-half years after the protests of 2020, much of the NYPD's policies and training for policing large-scale demonstrations have been re-envisioned based on the findings of the department's own, self-initiated analyses and on the recommendations from three outside agencies who carefully investigated that period," read the statement.

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The incident occurred amid widespread looting and rioting across New York City in the wake of George Floyd's murder, damaging an estimated 450 businesses, according to city officials. Then-NYPD Commissioner Dermott Shea vigorously defended the officers' actions at the time, saying the kettling maneuver was executed "nearly flawlessly" and blaming "outside agitators" for instigating violence.

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