NYC – City to Pay $13 Million to Racial Injustice Protesters

About 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police during racial injustice demonstrations during the summer of 2020, have brought a civil rights lawsuit, and New York City has now agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle.

The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, would be among the most expensive pay-outs ever awarded in a lawsuit over mass arrests, experts said. It also helps the City avoid an expensive trial.

According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, with some exceptions, the individuals arrested/subjected to force by NYPD officers at about 18 of the events will each be eligible for $9,950 in compensation. At the moment, many other cities across the U.S. are negotiating their own settlements with protesters during the George Floyd movement.

National Lawyers Guild attorneys represented the plaintiffs in New York. The NYPD leaders are accused of depriving protesters of their 1st Amendment rights through a “coordinated” campaign of indiscriminate brutality and unlawful arrests.