The New York City government has agreed to pay more than 300 Black Lives Matter demonstrators $21,500 each to settle a lawsuit over the crowd control tactics policy used in response to demonstrations in the summer of 2020.
In July 2020, a group of four activists brought a lawsuit against the city on behalf of themselves and other demonstrators who were subjected to allegedly aggressive policing while they protested in the streets. The lawsuit specifically alleged police used unjustified force, such as strikes with their batons and fists and pepper spray, to subdue protesters.
The plaintiffs also alleged police used a tactic known as “kettling,” in which they surrounded demonstrators to prevent them from escaping arrest. The police were also alleged to have excessively tightened plastic handcuffs on arrested protesters, “which caused pain, bruising and, in some cases, led to long-term injury.”
