Two and a half years later, the city of New York will take out the checkbook to compensate nearly 320 demonstrators, victims of police violence during the Black Lives Matter movement. The decision comes to compensate for a controversial operation, enamelled with clashes, in the Bronx, on June 4, 2020, only a few days after the symbolic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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.
“Rethink” its policing policy
New York police said the complaints followed “arrests” for “violations of the 8 p.m. curfew” then in place and decided by then-Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio after incidents during of previous events. The police add that it was “a difficult moment” 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.
In early February, a city commission responsible for collecting complaints recommended disciplinary action against police officers in 146 cases of violence, abuse of authority or insult. The agreement concluded by the city of New York must still be validated by federal justice. In total, the megalopolis should pay more than 6.4 million dollars.
