A local leader from the Black Lives Matter movement says that New York police nearly killed him during his arrest at a peaceful demonstration. The man says that police handcuffed him while he was participating in a protest against the immigration ban instituted by the White House last February.
According to a lawsuit recently filed by the man, prosecutors dismissed the charges that police brought against him, but only if he does not get arrested for a period of six months. The activist, who serves as the president of the Greater New York chapter of Black Lives Matter, explained that his lawsuit is about the accountability of law enforcement. The 40-year-old activist said that he is pursuing his lawsuit to assert his right to damages after being injured by wrongful police action.
The man’s attorney said that the lawsuit highlights the rights of activists to exercise their right to freedom of speech by virtue of the First Amendment. Protesters “should not be subjected to serious physical injuries at the hands of the police simply because they are exercising that right,” the attorney said.
The plaintiff’s lawsuit alleges that police dangerously slammed him onto the ice and concrete in a way that could have resulted in serious bodily injury or death. “Thank God that I’m not a hashtag and that people are not marching in remembrance of me,” the man said. He is asking for unspecified compensatory damages for: false arrest, emotional distress, civil rights violations, false imprisonment, punitive relief and other damages.
If you’ve been hurt by the police, or your loved one was killed by police, learn about your legal rights. You might be able to file a lawsuit to hold the police accountable for their actions, their abuses of power and the tragic results, injuries and financial damages they caused.
Source: New York Daily News, “Black Lives Matter leader claims NYPD cops ‘almost killed him’ at anti-Trump protest,” Christina Carrega, Nov. 26, 2017