Systemic Police Brutality and Its Costs in the United States, Annex I : Letter from Human Rights Watch to the NYPD, Annex II: Letter from the NYPD to Human Rights Watch. A protest in the South Bronx had proceeded peacefully, moving from the Hub, one of the borough’s most dynamic commercial centers, south through the … And It’s Perfectly Legal, Prisoners Hoping for Mercy Place Little Faith in Cuomo, Cuomo Rent Relief Expansion Still Strands Many in Need of Aid, How NYCHA Allegedly Closed the Book on Repairs It Didn’t Do, ‘Nutcracker’ Performance Sweetens Brooklyn Students’ Pandemic-Wracked Year, Subway Motorman’s Widow Hasn’t Been on a Train Since His Death. A new report by Human Rights Watch concludes that the NYPD overstepped its authority at a June 4 peaceful protest in Mott Haven, taking advantage of an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to block off streets protesters would have accessed to disperse, then corralling, beating and pepper spraying them, and arresting more than 200. The protest in Mott Haven was one of the many community-driven responses to the police killing of George Floyd. Help Us Report On Special Education Solutions in New York City. The Bronx District Attorney’s office has dismissed the summonses and desk appearance tickets, according to the report. On September 3, the Bronx District Attorney filed to dismiss the summonses, and on September 25 the Bronx District Attorney’s office informed Human Rights Watch that the desk appearance tickets will also be dismissed. “This whole incident, looking at all of those factors, really emphasizes the importance of what protesters were out on the street protesting in the first place, and their demands to massively reduce, divest and take resources away from the police and invest in the community,” Sawyer added. As Chantel Johnson made her way through her South Bronx neighborhood to meet up with protesters, one thought kept nagging her: Why the heavy police presence? One of the most notable instances of “kettling” came on June 4 when cops corralled and trapped protesters in Mott Haven until they were out past … Cops filmed boxing in and beating hundreds of demonstrators during a Bronx protest of police violence committed violations of international human rights laws, a new report charges. The report claims the neighborhood has long experienced over-policing and use of physical force by law enforcement — something observers said carried over into the protest. Terence Monahan, NYPD chief of department, was also on the scene, according to the report. The NYPD did not respond to questions about the violence it inflicted on protesters and observers or address why officers trapped the protesters before the curfew, blocking all paths to disperse. The Wednesday report comes just days after Physicians for Human Rights, another non-profit group, issued a report condemning “unlawful and excessive force against peaceful protesters, medics, and others,” at the same June protest. They also found that the NYPD relied too much on intelligence — such as at a Mott Haven protest where the department had intel that violence was … One of the most infamous 'kettling' instances occurred on June 4 in the Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven when protesters violated the 8pm curfew. It describes the city’s ineffectual accountability systems that protect abusive police officers, shows the shortcomings of incremental reforms, and makes the case for structural change. The New York Police Department (NYPD) replied in part to Human Rights Watch’s questions about the protest but did not respond to a request to interview senior police officials. The cops were trying to figure out if she was breathing but they weren’t moving with any urgency.”. The crackdown, led by the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, was among the most aggressive police responses to protests across the United States following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and could cost New York City taxpayers several million dollars in misconduct complaints and lawsuits. The NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, Chief of Department Terence Monahan, was present during the action, along with at least 24 other uniformed supervisory officers – chiefs, lieutenants, captains, or inspectors in white shirts. Meanwhile, the pandemic has upped the stakes. Human Rights Watch documented at least 61 cases of protesters, legal observers, and bystanders who sustained injuries during the crackdown, including lacerations, a broken nose, lost tooth, sprained shoulder, broken finger, black eyes, and potential nerve damage due to overly tight zip ties. 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Meanwhile, the number of outstanding repairs recently hit a record 475,000. “The largest cost, however, will likely come from the resulting misconduct complaints, investigations, and lawsuits,” Human Rights Watch said. “But when we heard about this incident in Mott Haven and started digging into it deeper, we felt that it was a really powerful and important story to understand more deeply.”. Email tips@thecity.nyc or visit our tips page for other ways to share. They trapped them on this narrow street and began making arrests. Despite the governor’s promise of a progressive overhaul of the clemency process, very few people have made the cut. Videos recorded at the protest — which ended after police encircled marchers, effectively trapping them — show officers beating some of those in the crowd with batons. Human Rights Watch and the visual investigations firm SITU Research also released a video using three-dimensional modeling, witness interviews, and footage recorded at the protest. One of the most infamous 'kettling' instances occurred on June 4 in the Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven when protesters violated the 8pm curfew. When Dr. Mike Pappas, a family physician, learned that a group called Take Back the Bronx would be organizing a protest in the Mott Haven area of the Bronx on June 4, 2020, he asked the organizers how health care workers could be helpful, and the organizers said they needed medics. At least 13 legal observers – who wear clearly identifiable hats and badges – were also detained, in some cases violently, before being released. Join our movement today. “I say that never having been in a war zone, but that’s what I can imagine it felt like.”. Beyond the initial costs of personnel and helicopters needed for the June 4 event, researchers highlighted the costs of arresting, transporting and processing protestors. With every apartment that gets turned over to private management, public housing officials wipe away mold fixes and other unfinished work, an advocacy group charges. Over 100 participants in the Mott Haven protest plan to sue the city for their treatment by police. All of the Mott Haven residents who spoke with THE CITY said the protest was peaceful until just before the 8 p.m. curfew, when police officers “kettled” the crowd — penning demonstrators in. Mott Haven is about 27 percent Black and 67 percent Hispanic, according to New York University’s Furman Center. In the police department’s response to Human Rights Watch’s questions, the department said that, “upon 8 p.m.,” the demonstration “was unlawful under the Mayor’s Executive Order establishing the curfew,” and that the detention of nonessential workers “was lawful.” The department also said that “legal observers did not enjoy an exemption as essential workers,” even though the Mayor’s office had clarified that legal observers were exempt from the curfew. “Then they dragged me on the ground and beat me with batons. Lawsuits against the NYPD are already underway, lawyers for some of the demonstrators said. “There was an element of ‘This isn’t going to go well,’” Andino said. Just after 8 p.m., the police, unprovoked and without warning, moved in on the protesters, wielding batons, beating people from car tops, shoving them to the ground, and firing pepper spray into their faces before rounding up more than 250 people for arrest, “The New York City police blocked people from leaving before the curfew and then used the curfew as an excuse to beat, abuse, and arrest people who were protesting peacefully,” said Ida Sawyer, acting crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. The police conduct during the Mott Haven protest amounts to serious violations of international human rights law, and it also appears to violate civil rights protections of … The mayor added that he does not stand for peaceful protesters being attacked by officers, but claimed the situation in Mott Haven was not a peaceful demonstration. “There was a woman with blood gushing from her head, five or six rows ahead of me,” Ghebreghiorgis said “She was taken away and I don’t know what happened to her. Dozens of people spent hours in detention with untreated wounds and their hands bound behind their backs. There was a young woman to my right — she was lying down next to me and was unresponsive. Barricades had been erected near the 40th Precinct to limit traffic, frustrating residents who lived nearby and needed to show identification to get through, like Monxo Lopez, a local activist. One was held for a week. Police encircled them and conducted violent arrests, placing people in zip ties, shoving them to the ground, beating them and loading them into vans. The Mott Haven protest was one of several that took place in New York City that day. “Local governments should finally do what it takes to end the structural racism and systemic police abuse that people in Mott Haven and communities like it have long experienced.”, Abuses by South Sudan’s National Security Service, Institutionalization and Barriers to Education for Children with Disabilities in Kyrgyzstan, Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice. 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