New York City will pay more than $20,000 to some 320 protesters who were victims of a controversial police operation in the Bronx in June 2020, during anti-racism demonstrations that followed the death of George Floyd and were marred by violence, according to a court document. That’s a total of more than $6 million.
In the weeks after the death of this African American murdered 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 denunciations of police violence, especially in the megacities of the US East Coast.
At the beginning of February, a municipal commission in charge of collecting complaints recommended disciplinary measures against police officers in 146 cases of violence, abuse of authority or insults.
“Arrested and charged without just cause, and subjected to excessive force”
The agreement concluded by the city of New York, which still needs to be validated by federal justice, only refers to a demonstration, on June 4, 2020 in the Bronx, according to a court document.
The police are accused of having used an encirclement technique that day to prevent any movement of the protesters, “arrested and charged without legitimate cause, and subjected to excessive force,” according to the court document.
In its report, the city commission investigated this case and listed, in particular, complaints against “certain police officers getting into vehicles and beating protesters with batons”, the indiscriminate use of tear gas and handcuffs.
The New York police responded that the allegations followed “arrests” for “curfew violations” in effect at 8 pm and decided by then-Democratic mayor Bill de Blasio following incidents at previous events.
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 possible to facilitate the right to peaceful expression, while facing acts of lawlessness.” It adds, however, that it has “redesigned” its policy and training to police large-scale protests.
Source: BFM TV
