Peaceful BLM Protesters Sue de Blasio, NYPD Brass for Brutal Police Response

Four peaceful protesters today filed a federal lawsuit against the City of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, and NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, alleging that the Mayor and NYPD leadership are personally responsible for the NYPD's brutal crackdown on First Amendment activity after the murder of George Floyd.

Plaintiffs Edo Gelbard, Luke Hanna, Michael Sternfeld, and Tim Young were the victims of excessive force by the NYPD at a peaceful June 3 protest in Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn. The NYPD surrounded the protesters, charged the crowd, and used indiscriminate and unnecessary force against fleeing demonstrators, including baton strikes. Gelbard was struck in the face and lost part of a tooth; Hanna was struck in the head and required ten staples to his scalp.

The lawsuit extensively documents the NYPD's similarly violent tactics at protests throughout the City since May 29, 2020. It seeks to hold de Blasio, Shea, and Monahan individually liable for the NYPD's strategy of surrounding, charging, and assaulting peaceful protesters.

Plaintiffs' counsel David Lebowitz of Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick LLP said: "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 City should acknowledge that these tactics were unnecessary and violated the First Amendment, and ensure that no peaceful demonstrator in New York is treated this way in the future.”

Plaintiffs' counsel Doug Lieb of Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick LLP said: "The NYPD chose to suppress protests against police brutality with organized brutality. That was a deliberate policy choice, made at the highest levels of City government. The leaders who made that choice should bear responsibility for it."