New York City has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a class action lawsuit that accuses the city's police department of using unlawful tactics against protesters following the death of George Floyd, according to a proposed settlement filed in a Manhattan federal court Wednesday.
Roughly 1,380 protesters who were arrested by the New York City Police Department at 18 demonstrations in May and June of 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. It marks the largest amount ever paid in a class-action settlement to a group of protesters, according to the plaintiff's attorneys.
The demonstrations in New York were among many that erupted in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis. Tens of thousands of people marched in cities and small towns across America as well as around the world.
The NYPD came under heavy criticism for its treatment of protesters during those demonstrations. The class action lawsuit was filed in early 2021 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and claims New York City police officers violated the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of thousands who participated in the days-long protests.
Some of the actions NYPD officers are accused of include "corralling protesters into spaces where they could not escape, beating protesters with batons and fists, throwing protesters to the ground, using pepper spray indiscriminately, and ultimately arresting many of the protesters without lawful justification and without fair warning," court documents state.
"Protesters were physically restrained with flex-cuffs in such a manner that caused them unnecessary pain and suffering and, in some cases, possible serious and long-term nerve damage," the lawsuit claims. It also claims some protesters "were subjected to lengthy and unnecessary arrest processing that put them in dangerously close quarters, all in the height of the global Covid-19 pandemic."
The NYPD referred CNN to the city's law department for comment on the settlement. Stefan Mooklal, the department's deputy chief of staff, said the settlement is in the "best interests of all parties."
"The City and NYPD remain committed to ensuring the public is safe and people's right to peaceful expression is protected. The NYPD has improved numerous practices to address the challenges it faced at protests during the pandemic," he said.
A December 2020 report from the city's department of investigation said the NYPD failed to anticipate the large number of protesters or violence during the demonstrations, CNN previously reported. That failure, combined with insufficient staffing and lack of training, led to poor judgment and excessive force.
In a statement, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, Adama Sow, said the settlement is "a testament to the importance of collective action to redress violations of important constitutional rights."
Wylie Stecklow, a plaintiff's attorney, told CNN the settlement is "the most ever paid to protesters for Constitutional violations."
"However, any reasonable leader would see this as a red flag and would think they would need to investigate to see what happened," Stecklow said.
Another plaintiff's attorney, Masai Lord, said, "The historic size and scope of the settlement hopefully shows that the City is taking these transgressions seriously, and that our First Amendment rights will be protected going forward."
The settlement -- if approved by a judge -- is also expected to involve significant attorney's fees, potentially amounting to millions of dollars.
