New York City is being sued by protesters who say they were injured by police using "unjustifiable" heavy-handed tactics at demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s killing earlier this year.
The New York Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of 11 protesters on Monday, accusing city leaders of doing little to stop police conduct that saw allegedly peaceful demonstrators beaten with batons, pepper-sprayed, kettled and detained for hours.
Mr Floyd was , sparking worldwide protests over racial inequality and a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Over and again, at protests throughout the City in May and June, NYPD officers descended on protesters with unjustifiable fist and baton strikes, chemical pepper spray attacks, and other acts of physical violence,” the Washington Post reported the lawsuit as saying.
The NYCLU and LAS are seeking damages for the protesters, training for officers to respect people's right to protest and discipline for officers who used excessive force during the demonstrations.
“It’s imperative that there be a whole retraining of the police department that they have to respect the right to protest, and that their response to protest cannot be violence, cannot be abusive, and that they need to protect everybody’s rights,” NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said.
One plaintiff, Charlie Monlouis-Anderle, was left with a broken arm as a result of police conduct, according to the lawsuit.
Another, Jarrett Payne, was allegedly struck by a police baton and pinned to the ground even though he was not resisting, where he was beaten further by several officers.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea and chief of department Terence Monahan are among those specifically named in the suit, as is the city itself.
At his daily briefing on Monday, Mr de Blasio did not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit but said it “doesn’t sound right” to him.
There has also been work done in developing police strategies aimed at avoiding confrontations in recent years, he added.
“From what I’ve heard of the lawsuit’s allegation, it doesn’t sound right at all to me,” he said.
“There’s been a conscious effort for seven years now to change the relationship between the NYPD and communities.”
Mr de Blasio and other city officials have been widely criticised for the conduct of police during Black Lives Matter and anti-police violence demonstrations this year.
On one notable occasion, he defended police after two department vehicles in May drove into protesters blocking their path. The incident that sparked outrage and the footage was shared across the globe on social media.
"[The situation was] created by a group of protesters blocking and surrounding a police vehicle, a tactic that we had seen before in the last few days, a tactic that can be very, very dangerous to everyone involved," he said.
"And we've seen direct attacks on police officers, including in their vehicles."
In a report last month, Human Rights Watch condemned the “planned the assault and mass arrests of peaceful protesters” at a 4 June demonstration in the Bronx and said it could cost taxpayers several million dollars in misconduct complaints and lawsuits.
