A legal settlement has been reached with New York City to compensate hundreds of protesters who were detained by police and beaten with batons during racial justice protests in 2020.
In the event the settlement filed in federal court is approved, the amount would be among the highest ever awarded per person in a class action case about mass arrests, and the city could be forced to pay up to $6 million per person in damages as a result.
Approximately 300 people were arrested in the #Bronx on June 4, 2020, during protests against the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers a week earlier. May and June saw thousands of people demonstrate in #NewYork following his death.
In the lawsuit, the police prevented hundreds of peaceful protesters from leaving after boxing them in on 136th Street, a practice called "kettling."
Officers, who were not masked during the peak of COVID, restrained them with zip ties, swung at protesters with batons, and assaulted them with pepper spray, according to the lawsuit.
Although protested should have never been attacked by police for demanding justice for George Floyd, it is the bare minimum that New York City compensates protesters who were brutalized by police officers for daring to demand an end to racial oppression.
Source: The New York Times
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