New York City to Pay $13 Million Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit Over Police Treatment of George Floyd Protesters

The US city has agreed to pay a large check to settle a class action lawsuit that accuses police of using unlawful practices against protesters following the 2020 death of George Floyd.

A victory for the protesters. New York City is expected to pay more than $13 million after judges agree to settle a class action lawsuit in protests following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer on May 25, 2020, reports CNN. The demonstrators accused the New York police department of having used illegal methods, such as traps or the overuse of tear gas.

A total of about 1,380 protesters who were arrested by New York City police at 18 demonstrations in May and June 2020 in Manhattan and Brooklyn will be eligible to receive $9,950 each in compensation, if the settlement is approved by a judge, according to the lawsuit.

This is the highest amount ever paid to a group of protesters in a class action, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

Traps and tear gas

Following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American killed by a police officer in Minneapolis during a violent intervention whose images went around the world, tens of thousands of people marched around the world.

The New York police have meanwhile been widely criticized for their practices. The agents are accused of having violated several amendments to the American constitution concerning the rights of the thousands of people who participated in these protest marches. So much so that a class action had been brought in court at the beginning of 2021.

The authorities are notably accused of having locked the demonstrators in spaces where they could not escape – what can be described as a trap -, of having hit them with batons, of having thrown them to the ground, of having used tear gas indiscriminately and of having finally arrested many demonstrators without legal justification and without prior warning, according to the court.

“The protesters were physically restrained with flexible handcuffs in a manner that caused them unnecessary pain and suffering and, in some cases, severe, long-term nerve damage,” it is noted in the New York court documents. Some protesters “were subjected to lengthy and unnecessary arrest procedures that placed them in dangerously tight spaces, all in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The American city believes for its part that the agreement is in “the interest of all parties”. “The City and the New York Police remain committed to keeping the public safe and protecting people’s right to peaceful expression. NYPD have improved many practices to respond to the challenges they have faced during protests during the pandemic.”

2023-07-25 12:52:39
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