OccupyWallStNYC : Our victory settlement this... NYT: City Leaves Police Official Without Lawyer to Fight Protester's Lawsuit Video taken Oct. 14, 2011, shows a police official identified in a lawsuit as Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona appearing to hit a protester. For the second time in a case stemming from Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, city lawyers are not stepping forward to defend a police commander accused of mistreating protesters, according to court papers filed on Wednesday. The commander in the new case, Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona, is named in a federal lawsuit brought by one protester, Felix Rivera-Pitre, who contends he was punched in the face during confrontations with the police in Lower Manhattan in October 2011. Amateur video taken at the time shows a high-ranking officer in a white shirt strike Mr. Rivera-Pitre. The city denied the accusations made in the complaint, which also names the City of New York. Neither the Law Department nor the Police Department immediately responded to queries on Wednesday. Ronald L. Mr. No such findings were made in the case of Mr.
[UPDATE] HIV Positive Protester Says Cop Who Punched Him Should Get Tested (Christopher Robbins/Gothamist) [UPDATE BELOW] During the chaotic Occupy Wall Street march through the financial district this morning, we witnessed a protester on William Street get punched in the face by a police officer, seemingly without provocation. He says the officer hit him so hard his earring got knocked out, but he managed to escape arrest. We caught up with the protester later: his name is Felix Rivera-Pitre, and he told us what happened and how he got away. Rivera-Pitre, who is HIV positive and used to be a dancer, tells us he was walking a little bit in front of the police on William Street, and admits he "shot the cop a look." Asked how he escaped, Rivera-Pitre says, "The cops were pulling me by my feet and the crowd was pulling me by my hands, and I was suspended in the air. Rivera-Pitre said he was participating in march because "my housing has been affected by the economy." Occupy Wall Street’s “Victory” March Video from ANIMALnewyork.com on Vimeo.
[UPDATE] City Abandons NYPD White Shirt Who Sucker-Punched OWS Protester [UPDATE BELOW] Though many NYPD officers were recognizable players in the drama of Occupy Wall Street's struggle to peaceably assemble in Lower Manhattan—Winski, Hipster Cop, Albano, and who could forget the poetry of McNamara and DiPace?—two stand out as galvanizing the movement through their violent response to protesters. Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, who wantonly pepper-sprayed protesters in September 2011, and Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona, who sucker punched a protester in front of a million flashing cameras. The NYPD disciplined Bologna, and refused to provide him with an attorney to defend the multiple lawsuits against him. Now, the Law Department has declined to defend Cardona. Cardona and the City are being sued by Felix Rivera-Pitre, the protester Cardona punched on the violent march through Lower Manhattan on October 14, 2011, shortly after Mayor Bloomberg announced that he wouldn't be kicking protesters out of Zuccotti Park after all (that would come later).
I fought the NYPD, and I won. | Shawn Carrié My name is Shawn Carrié, I’m 24 years old, a student, and a Queens native. On December 4, 2013 I settled my lawsuit against the NYPD for the brutality I suffered and the violation of my rights and liberties for participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement. The City of New York and the New York City Police Department have agreed to pay $82,500 to settle the case. I want to thank my lawyer, Jeffrey Rothman, for vehemently defending my civil liberties against the police. This case illustrates starkly the NYPD’s brutal response to the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the continuing malfeasance of its Intelligence Division in the suppression of protected First Amendment activity. I have always stood by my claims of what I was defiant and ready to fight them in court, to win and be vindicated that my rights were violated and the police were wrong. This was a massive, complex lawsuit, with many components. It started with just getting followed. I have PTSD that I’ll never get over.
Oakland To Pay $654,000 To Vet Injured In Occupy Protests Above: Kayvan Sabeghi, Iraq war vet and Oakland business owner in police custody. The City Council on Tuesday agreed to pay $645,000 to settle the claim from an Iraq War veteran who was beaten by a police officer during an Occupy Oakland protest two years ago. The settlement with Kayvan Sabeghi, who suffered a ruptured spleen, is the largest awarded so far to anyone injured during a string of Occupy Oakland protests in late 2011 and early 2012. In July, the city agreed to pay $1.17 million to resolve 12 Occupy-related claims — including that of Scott Campbell, who filmed a police officer shooting him in the leg with a lead beanbag. Sabeghi, who co-owned a brewpub in El Cerrito at the time of the attack, could not be reached for comment late Tuesday. Kayvan Sabeghi in police custody A videotape circulated online showed him standing his ground against an advancing line of riot-clad officers shortly after midnight Nov. 3, 2011. As the officers advanced, chanting repeatedly “Move!”
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