KLLF Files Lawsuit Over Warrantless Siege of BLM Protestor's Home

Derrick Ingram, who co-founded the youth-led activist collective Warriors in the Garden, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of New York and NYPD officials. The suit alleges that the NYPD violated Mr. Ingram’s civil rights when officers stormed his apartment building without a warrant in an egregious show of force that involved drones, snipers, police dogs, and dozens of officers in tactical gear.

The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Ingram drew attention from the NYPD for his public-facing role as an advocate against police brutality and systemic racism, particularly against Black Americans. According to the complaint, the NYPD accosted Mr. Ingram and cornered him in his home for nearly six hours on August 7, 2020, causing him to fear for his life. As community members gathered outside Mr. Ingram’s home, the NYPD left without ever producing an arrest warrant.

“I am still haunted,” Mr. Ingram said. “I am forever changed. But what happened to me is not unique—the violence and intimidation I met at the hands of law enforcement happens across this country daily. I am still processing the trauma, the trauma that coexists with being Black in this country, the trauma that comes with being surveilled, the trauma that comes with thinking you’re going to die.”

The complaint alleges that NYPD officers slammed a battering ram against Mr. Ingram’s door and even climbed onto Mr. Ingram’s fire escape to taunt him through his window with references to his deceased grandmother, whom they learned about through his social media posts.

“Mr. Ingram spent the spring and summer of 2020 leading hundreds of thousands of voices in the streets decrying police violence against Black Americans,” said Alanna Kaufman of Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick LLP, attorneys for Mr. Ingram. “The NYPD’s decision to respond with a military-style attack on his home was blatant attempt to silence him and his movement.”

The complaint also alleges that Mr. Ingram was targeted with fabricated assault allegations by a member of the NYPD following his participation in a June 14, 2020, protest, and that he was surveilled by the NYPD after lodging a police misconduct complaint on July 12, 2020.

“The NYPD scrambled to justify their siege of Mr. Ingram’s home based on a fabricated complaint against him,” said Alyssa Isidoridy, another of Mr. Ingram’s attorneys. “But that justification was entirely pretextual. The extraordinary show of force used against Mr. Ingram shows that the siege was retaliation—plain and simple.”

The siege was widely condemned by public officials, including Maya Wiley and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Mr. Ingram’s attorney David Lebowitz added: “It’s clear the NYPD’s extreme tactics that day served no legitimate law enforcement ends. The City and dozens of NYPD personnel are liable for their flagrant attempts to intimidate, harass, and threaten Mr. Ingram.”

“They took a piece of me that day that I will never get back,” Mr. Ingram said. “I want justice and accountability. I want to ensure that what happened to me never happens to anyone else.”

Mr. Ingram is represented by KLLF attorneys Alanna Kaufman, David Lebowitz, and Alyssa Isidoridy.