Back in September, 10 people filed a $50 million lawsuit against the city, accusing the NYPD of using excessive force when breaking up a Labor Day party in East Flatbush. They say cops maced guests, called in a helicopter, and left many attendees with serious injuries, like James Hill here, who's got a nasty scar on his face. Now the Daily News reports that the Brooklyn DA is investigating claims that cops roughed up the revelers without provocation.
Over 150 people were at Rodney and Kesha Terry's annual backyard barbecue when police arrived to shut it down because of complaints that the street was clogged with double-parked cars. According to one witness, a lieutenant told the hosts, "The party's fucking over." Many of the guests were civil servants, including Japel Filiaci, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, who recalls, "The police were grabbing people and beating people who were trying to leave." 16 people were arrested in all, with six people ultimately charged.
Hill's lawyer says one cop kicked his client in the face as he lay on the sidewalk, all because he was looking at his badge number. According to the complaint, "Mr. Hill tried to read the badge numbers of some of the officers who surrounded him, causing one officer to protest, 'Why are you looking at my badge number? I wasn't the one that kicked you.' " See, this never would have happened if these cops had just remembered to tape over their badge numbers!
