Protesters are beginning to sue the city and its police department following mass arrests during a historic citywide curfew that left peaceful protesters badly injured and detained in crowded spaces, often for low-level offenses.
Lawyer Jeffrey Emdin says he is representing 19 people from the infamous Mott Haven protests June 4th alone—where NYPD officers kettled protesters together and began beating peaceful protesters indiscriminately, rounding up legal observers too. He also represents another handful of people from other days of demonstrations under an umbrella of civil rights violations—from false arrest and imprisonment to illegal search and seizure and excessive force.
"The number is growing," Emdin told us. None of his clients' lawsuits have formally begun, but notices of claim have been filed.
Policies like kettling and use of zipties or flex cuffs—which left some protesters with badly bruised wrists and nerve damage—are also a subject in the cases. Of the Mott Haven protest, "they weren't even given an opportunity to comply or leave the location," he said.
"I am fully expecting the District Attorneys office to look into this and issue dismissal orders," Emdin said.
Some 2,475 people were arrested and detained between May 28th and June 7th during protests against police violence, sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis that resulted in a historic and highly scrutinized citywide curfew aimed at curbing looting.
More than half of those arrests were for curfew violations, which could lead to up to three months in jail or $500 in fines. Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the curfew detainments last month, saying the curfew served a "purpose" to "end the violence" and each case should be judged for itself.
"We do not know at this point what the District Attorneys office is going to do—what the courts are going to do with these massive number of cases," Emdin said. But, he added, "I cannot see a situation where all these individuals are required to appear in court while we have all these COVID-19 policies in place."
Protesters caught up in low-level offenses like unlawful assembly or breaking the 8 p.m. curfew would have to take off work, school, or taking care of family to show up to court, even for summonses, putting them at risk of COVID-19 inside the courts, Emdin noted.
"That would be really adding salt to wounds," said Emdin, who repped 18-year-old Ramarley Graham's family in the wake of the teen's killing by an NYPD officer in the Bronx.
The Daily News found 82 people who had filed notices of claims, reviewing 48 cases across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Twenty-two-year-old Huascar Benoit was beaten with a baton and suffered a fractured eyesocket as a result at a protest in Downtown Brooklyn on May 31st; two sisters were tackled by cops during a Midtown protest on June 1st; and one man wasn't even protesting when he was snatched and arrested, according to a review of the claims by the News.
The latter incident involved Patrick Thompson, 27, who was standing outside a hotel where he was staying while working as a hospital dietary aide to avoid commuting between NYC and Queens when police tackled and arrested him, the News reported. Emdin is representing Thompson.
In a separate lawsuit filed against the NYPD last month, four anti-police violence protesters allege they were beaten, one losing a part of a tooth and another protester requiring ten staples to his head after being struck with a baton during protests on June 3rd at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn. Another was "slammed to the pavement by the NYPD" and the fourth person suffered thumb and wrist injuries, the federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York says.
Lawyer David Lebowitz said in a statement at the time: "The NYPD may not like it when New Yorkers speak out against police brutality, but the Constitution does not permit officers to beat protesters with batons because they disagree with their message."
The NYPD didn't immediately comment on protesters planning to sue or the federal lawsuit filed, but in a June interview, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan defended the department's tactics, saying in some cases the protesters themselves were violent, with bottles or other objects thrown at police and looting happening. He said the "streets were out of control."
On the day of the Mott Haven protests, which is under investigation, police say they recovered a gun, though it was recovered several blocks away and hours before the protest; burglar tools were also seized from other suspects before the rally began.
