NYPD sued for aggressive tactics against George Floyd protesters – Telemundo New York (47)

NEW YORK – Two civil rights organizations are suing the New York City Police Department on behalf of protesters who say they were mistreated by officers for expressing anti-Police views during demonstrations in the spring following George’s murder. Floyd.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court Monday, also accuses city leaders of doing little to restrain police conduct that included trapping protesters with a police tactic used to control non-peaceful crowds during demonstrations and known as kitten, or encapsulation, hitting them with pepper spray, inflicting violence and detaining them for hours. One plaintiff sustained a broken arm as a result of the conduct of the police department, according to the lawsuit.

The organizations, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society, seek monetary damages for 11 named plaintiffs, as well as reforms such as officer training to respect protesters’ rights and swift discipline for officers who used excessive force. They also ask a court to declare the NYPD’s actions unconstitutional.

“It is imperative that there is a complete retraining of the Police Department so that they respect the right to protest and that their response to the protest cannot be violent, cannot be abusive and that they have to protect the rights of all,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Messages seeking comment on the lawsuit were left with the Police Department, the mayor’s office and the agency that provides legal representation to the city.

Tens of thousands of people took to the city streets to protest mostly peacefully over the May 25 police murder of Floyd in Minneapolis and other cases of police brutality. Some smash-and-grab sprees and sporadic riots led New York City officials to impose a city-wide curfew for several days, sparking clashes between protesters and police trying to clear the streets.

Governor Andrew Cuomo asked State Attorney General Letitia James to investigate whether NYPD officers used excessive force to quell the riots and enforce the curfew.

James said in a preliminary report in July that he had received more than 1,300 submissions from protesters and that most of the complaints involved NYPD officers using excessive force, “indiscriminate use of pepper spray, brandishing firearms at protesters and pushing vehicles or bicycles towards the protesters. “

Other allegations referred to “disturbing practices related to arrest”, including the use of “extremely tight bridles”, gender discrimination of detainees and the holding of protesters in tight cells.

In June, at the height of the protests, Mayor Bill de Blasio was accused of misleading the city when he told reporters that he personally saw “no use of force in the peaceful protests,” even after the officers had been caught on video moving over protesters without provocation and hitting them with batons.

Few officers were disciplined. Those included an officer suspended for pushing a woman to the ground on May 29 and an officer suspended for removing a protester’s mask and pepper spray on May 30. Both encounters were captured on camera.

“It’s time for the Police Department to stop acting like cops are incorrigible children and have no control over them,” Lieberman said.

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