New York City is expected to pay out about $4 million to $6 million to protesters to settle a case of police brutality during a 2020 protest in the Bronx.
Approximately 330 people were arrested on June 4 that year, and according to the settlement filed this week, protesters were boxed in with a police practice called “kettling” that didn't allow them to leave. Once trapped, protesters were restrained with zip ties by officers who weren't masked and were hit with pepper spray and batons, The New York Times reports.
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This is in addition to the $121 million New York paid out last year in police misconduct cases; that price tag was the highest in five years.
The settlement says the protesters were assembled legally, before an 8 p.m. curfew and once they were corralled, they couldn't leave the area. Some of the victims lost consciousness, went into convulsions, or were left injured and bleeding, according to the lawsuit settlement.
NYPD is saying that it's revised the department's practices since 2020 on how to handle large-scale protests. If the settlement is approved, it'll be the largest class-action payout of its kind to mass-arrest victims.
Maybe such a big monetary hit will bring an end to kettling once and for all. Given the trend though, it might be too much to hope for from a police department that keeps overstepping.
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