NYC to pay millions over police 'kettling' at George Floyd protest

NEW YORK - New York City has agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by protesters who say they were assaulted, abused and trapped by police using a technique known as "kettling" at a demonstration in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

Some of the mass demonstrations in the spring of 2020 devolved into rioting and looting. As a result, Mayor Bill de Blasio implemented an 8 p.m. curfew. 

New York City has agreed to pay millions of dollars over police 'kettling' at George Floyd protests. (FNTV)

It was on the second night of the curfew that protesters in the Bronx say they were assaulted, abused and trapped by police using what is called "kettling" – corralling people so they cannot move.

"This was a peaceful demonstration and as the protesters made their way down the street, the police officers stopped them from leaving and then moved in on them from all sides with overwhelming force," said Ali Frick, one of the lawyers representing more than 200 protesters. 

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She continued to say: "They were swinging their batons at people. They were using their fists. They were spraying pepper spray. They physically picked up a few of our clients and threw them onto the ground."

New York City has agreed to pay millions of dollars over police 'kettling' at George Floyd protests.

Frick said the city has now agreed to pay the protesters several million dollars to settle a lawsuit, paying each of them at least $21,000.  

"It demonstrates very clearly that the city knows that what happened on June 4, 2020 in the Bronx was unacceptable, and it was illegal," Fick said.

New York City has agreed to pay millions of dollars over police 'kettling' at George Floyd protests. (LLN NYC)

It's one of several lawsuits alleging the NYPD abused protesters who demonstrated following the police killing of Floyd in Minnesota.

The NYPD released a statement, saying in part, the time period was a "challenging moment for the department."

It was during the height of the coronavirus pandemic as police officers covering the protests were met with "acts of lawlessness including wide-scale rioting, mass chaos, violence, and destruction."

"You have to be careful that you're sending the wrong message too to where you're basically you're saying the police are neutered from this point on when you have to deal with a situation of civil unrest," said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD Sergeant and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

New York City has agreed to pay millions of dollars over police 'kettling' at George Floyd protests.

Since the 2020 racial justice protests, the NYPD says it has implemented new policies and training for large-scale demonstrations.

Associated Press wire services helped contribute to this report.