NYC to Pay $13M Settlement to 2020 Protesters

Facts

• New York City is preparing to pay $13.7M to nearly 1.4K protesters who claim they 'were arrested and/or subjected to force by NYPD officers' and had their First Amendment rights violated from late May to early June 2020. If approved by a judge, each of the 1,380 plaintiffs would receive $9,950.¹
• The protests, which were held in response to the killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota, were a mix of peaceful demonstrations and violence committed by protesters and police.²
• After analyzing thousands of social media posts and police body-camera and helicopter videos, the National Lawyers Guild accused the NYPD of beating protesters with batons, unleashing pepper spray, and aggressively using a tactic called kettling – which is used to trap and arrest mass amounts of people.³
• Meanwhile, the New York Police Dept. has defended itself, saying it was responding to extraordinary circumstances and citing officers pelted with rocks and vehicles set ablaze.⁴
• The settlement, which avoids a trial, will not include those arrested for crimes such as trespassing, property destruction, assaulting an officer, arson, or weapons possession.⁵
• This comes amid several other ongoing lawsuits against the NYPD related to its response to protests, including one that could result in a $10M payout. The coinciding riots led to $2B in damage and roughly 10K arrests nationwide.⁵

Sources: ¹Rolling Stone, ²New York Times, ³Democracy Now, ⁴NBC and ⁵FOX News.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Intercept. This is a great victory for those who were illegally attacked and stifled by the NYPD. But a real triumph won’t be accomplished until law enforcement stops looking at settlements like this as the cost of doing business and instead uses a desire to avoid settlements as motivation to reform its procedures and processes when it comes to patrolling protests.
• Right narrative, as provided by FOX News. What a sad state of affairs when a city is forced to pay a settlement over police doing their job. These protests and riots resulted in tens of deaths and millions in property damage nationwide, and law enforcement was just protecting their jurisdictions and themselves. Of course, this settlement has inspired copycat suits across the country, which will weaken the ability to keep the nation safe.