photo courtesy of AP
According to Fox News, the city of New York will have to pay over $13 million to more than 1,000 protestors arrested and harmed by police during the explosive 2020 Black Lives Matter protests following the conclusion of a massive civil rights lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal Court on July 19.
Although the settlement still needs to be finalized, NYC would avoid a trial by completing one of history’s largest payouts for a mass arrest. The lawsuit, centered around 18 significant protests in the city in the week following the tragic killing of George Floyd in May, can award nearly $10,000 to individuals affected.
Individuals arrested on violence charges, such as “trespassing, property destruction, assaulting an officer, arson or weapons possession,” are ineligible for settlement. Attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild represent the plaintiffs and accuse NYPD leaders of “depriving protesters of their First Amendment rights through brutal tactics and unlawful arrests.” Some listed defendants are Mayor Bill de Blasio, retired NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, and other prominent law enforcement leaders.
On the other hand, NYC’s attorneys claimed that there was “no systematic effort to deprive people of their right to protest” and that officers were just responding to violent and chaotic events. They attempted to bring up qualified immunity, which “protects police officers from lawsuits stemming from lawful work performed in the line of duty.”
“There is no history — or present or future — of unconstitutional policing,” Georgia Pestana, an attorney for the city, stated in a public memo.
“There is no frequent deprivation of constitutional rights.”
More than 600 people have filed claims against NYC concerning unlawful police behavior during the 2020 protests, and the settlements have totaled around $12 million for the city.