(New York) The City of New York will pay more than 20,000 dollars to some 320 protesters victims of a controversial police operation in the Bronx in June 2020, during the anti-racism demonstrations which had followed the death of George Floyd and had been enamelled of violence, according to a court document.
In the weeks following the death of this African-American killed on May 25, 2020 by a white police officer in Minneapolis, New York, like other major cities in the United States, had seen thousands of people take to the streets to protest against racism.
Some demonstrations had degenerated into scenes of looting and police violence had been denounced, especially in the megalopolis of the American east coast.
At the beginning of February, a city commission responsible for collecting complaints had recommended disciplinary sanctions against police officers in 146 cases of violence, abuse of authority or insults.
The agreement concluded by the city of New York, which must still be validated by federal justice, only concerns a demonstration, on June 4, 2020 in the Bronx, according to a court document filed on Tuesday in the proceedings and released on Wednesday by media.
The police are accused of having used an encirclement technique that day to prevent any movement of the demonstrators, “arrested and charged without legitimate cause, and subjected to excessive force”, according to the court document.
In its report, the city commission looked into this case and listed, in particular, complaints against “certain police officers getting on vehicles and beating demonstrators with truncheons”, the indiscriminate use of tear gas and handcuffs.
Asked by AFP, the New York police responded that these complaints followed “arrests” for “violations of the curfew” then in place at 8 p.m. and decided by the Democratic mayor at the time, Bill de Blasio, after incidents at previous protests.
The police add that it was “a difficult time” for their officers, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that they had “done everything to facilitate the right to peaceful expression, while facing acts of anarchy. However, she adds that she has “redesigned” her policy and training for policing large-scale protests.
