Over 260 protesters were arrested for violating the city-imposed curfew that night. Meanwhile, the number of outstanding repairs recently hit a record 475,000. Demonstrators after being detained by police officers during a protest against the death of George Floyd in Mott Haven, the Bronx, on June 4, 2020 . The protest in Mott Haven was one of the many community-driven responses to the police killing of George Floyd. “With at least 98 claims filed with the Comptroller’s Office since the protest, Human Rights Watch estimates that lawsuits related to the Mott Haven protest could end up costing New York City taxpayers several million dollars.”, Sign up and get the latest stories from THE CITY delivered to you each morning. Video footage captures an official from the NYPD’s Legal Bureau instructing other officers: “Legal Observers can be arrested.… They are good to go!” In Human Rights Watch’s 99-page report on the protest, published last week and based on interviews or written accounts from 81 participants and analysis of 155 videos from the protest, we found that the police action in Mott Haven was deliberate, planned, and amounted to serious violations of international human-rights law. 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. Most of those injured did not receive any immediate medical care, as police arrested or obstructed volunteer medics in medical scrubs with red cross insignia. Diaz (l) addresses protestors while Parks (r) watches. 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. 4 were surrounded and corralled by police at the end of the march route at East 136th Street and Brook Avenue ahead of the 8:00 p.m. nightly curfew, an action protestors said escalated tensions between them and police, and ultimately led to violence. 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. It was a very clear morning on the steps of City Hall on Sunday, March 26. “Then another cop sprayed me in the face with mace,” he said. 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. Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York City. New York state and city officials should make structural changes to reduce the police role in addressing societal problems, including through significant decreases to the police force size and budget, Human Rights Watch said. 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 Mott Haven incident was the largest single event of curfew arrests during the protests after police had intelligence that warranted concern but … newsletter, Trash Transfer Station Slimdown for Overwhelmed Neighborhoods Get Appeals Court OK, Public Hospital Pandemic Prep Playbook Called for Massive Mask Stockpile That Didn’t Materialize, Fridges Feeding the Hungry Weather Growing Pains With Creative Alliances, As Express Bus Ridership Tanks, Faithful Worry About Being Left in Cold by Cuts, As Trenches Fill, Plans for Hart Island COVID-19 Memorial Look to Past and Future, Many New York Judges Spend Their Way Toward Seats on the Bench. — NYC Protest Updates 2020 (@protest_nyc) June 5, 2020 Police in the Bronx began arresting peaceful protestors on 136th st as soon as the curfew went into effect. “It felt like a war zone,” Andino said, recalling the rush of officers and noise from police helicopters. Terence Monahan, NYPD chief of department, was also on the scene, according to the report. 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. 2 train, says a tribute run along the route planned for the anniversary of that tragic day might help her "start riding the train again.". Approximately 300 people assembled in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx on June 4, 2020 to protest police violence and systemic racism. New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea confirmed the premeditated nature of the operation, stating at a news conference the next day: “We had a plan which was executed nearly flawlessly in the Bronx.” Shea described the protest as an attempt by “outside agitators” to “cause mayhem,” “tear down society,” and “injure cops.” Human Rights Watch found that the protest, organized by activists from the Bronx, was peaceful until the police responded with violence. Somewhere in the process of being cuffed, I had a knee on my neck.”. Unlike in other parts of the borough and Manhattan, businesses in Mott Haven had not been looted. “I say that never having been in a war zone, but that’s what I can imagine it felt like.”. The NYPD's response to the Mott Haven protest and its "kettling" tactics figure heavily in the New York Attorney General's Office investigation into the NYPD interactions with protesters. “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.”. Working with a visual investigations firm, researchers also created a video, using 3D modeling, to illustrate how police corralled the protesters. “It was a planned operation with no justification that could cost New York taxpayers millions of dollars.”. They should also empower independent accountability systems to provide a genuine check on police misconduct. 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. New York City police officers trapped, assaulted, and arrested over 250 people during a peaceful protest in Mott Haven on June 4, 2020. “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. The Events of June 4, 2020 in Mott Haven. THE CITY and Chalkbeat are teaming up to report on what’s working and what’s not in the world of special education — and we want to hear from you. The government should instead invest in real community needs, including through support to services that directly address underlying issues such as homelessness and poverty and that improve access to quality education and health care. The city paid out $36 million for civil rights violations and related legal fees after police kettled and mass-arrested protesters in a similar manner in 2004. About 100 protesters and observers have filed notice of their intent to sue the city. Some were released later that night; others the next afternoon. Please consider joining us as a member today. The financial fallout of the crackdown on June 4 “will likely reach into the millions of dollars,” according to the Human Rights Watch report. Meanwhile, the pandemic has upped the stakes. One of the most infamous 'kettling' instances occurred on June 4 in the Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven when protesters violated the 8pm curfew. 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 US Constitution and the police department’s Patrol Guide. One protester described how an officer punched him in the face while another twisted his finger and broke it. The Human Rights Watch released a 99-page, detailed report and nearly 13 minute video which documented NYPD tactics used during a Black Lives Matter protest of about 300 in Mott Haven that turned into chaos on Saturday, June 4. The nearly 100-page report by Human Rights Watch includes the accounts of more than 80 people, among them medics and legal observers, who attended the June 4 protest in Mott Haven at the height of the spring protests. Gabriela Bhaskar—The New York Times/Redux. NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- A peaceful protest in Mott Haven ended in scores of arrests and accusations of excessive force after officers moved in to break up the crowd following the 8 p.m. curfew. “Our clients were all trapped before the curfew,” Borchetta said. An illustration detailing alleged 'kettling' done by the NYPD during the Mott Haven from June. The protest was organized by grassroots groups Take Back the Bronx and Why Accountability NYC, to express solidarity with protesters … At least 13 legal observers – who wear clearly identifiable hats and badges – were also detained, in some cases violently, before being released. According to … Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are East 149th Street to the north, the Bruckner Expressway to the east, the Bronx Kill waterway to the south, and the Harlem River to the west. “Instead of cracking down on peaceful protesters and stifling their calls for change, policymakers in New York City and across the country should listen to their demands,” Sawyer said. “Police conduct during the Mott Haven protest on June 4 amounts to serious violations of international human rights law which the federal, state, and local governments are obligated to observe,” the report said. The Mott Haven Herald talked with protestors to get their point of view on the June 4th Mott Haven protest, which was planned in solidarity with other protests around the nation in response to George Floyd’s death, but ended in a physical altercation with the NYPD. The cops were trying to figure out if she was breathing but they weren’t moving with any urgency.”. 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 … The 8 p.m. curfew that week, imposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, was aggressively enforced in the neighborhood, said residents. In an emailed statement to THE CITY on the new report, police officials said the NYPD “has conducted an ongoing review of the department’s response to protests and riots.”. “During that week, when the barricades came up and the curfew started, it was basically like a state of siege,” said Lopez. Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. Cuomo’s 24 commutations in his term don’t match the pace of his father. “They were trapped to such a degree that people reported that they couldn’t breathe. 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. 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. The virtual performance debuts Christmas Eve. The Bronx District Attorney’s office has dismissed the summonses and desk appearance tickets, according to the report. Initially, Human Rights Watch investigators wanted to do a comprehensive report on police crackdowns at the U.S. protests that followed Floyd’s death, said Ida Sawyer, a co-author of the report. Human Rights Watch interviewed or reviewed written accounts from 81 people who participated in the protest and 19 other community members, lawyers, activists, and city officials, and analyzed 155 videos recorded during the protest. Please give now to support our work, Trapping, Beatings in June Crackdown Reveal Abusive, Unaccountable System. We’re here to listen. Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808, Witness: Police ‘Kettle,’ Beat Protesters in New York City. Over 100 participants in the Mott Haven protest plan to sue the city for their treatment by police. Delilah Goble, whose husband was killed in a March arson fire that engulfed a No. “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. 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 … Help Us Report On Special Education Solutions in New York City. That’s a higher arrest toll than at any other New York City protest that followed the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, according to Human Rights Watch. “The largest cost, however, will likely come from the resulting misconduct complaints, investigations, and lawsuits,” Human Rights Watch said. Several protesters were injured after NYPD officers swung batons into a crowed during protests in Mott Haven, Bronx, June 4, 2020. Police encircled them and conducted violent arrests, placing people in zip ties, shoving them to the ground, beating them and loading them into vans. NYPD Response to June Bronx Protest Violated Human Rights Law, Watchdog Charges, Sign up for the In June, an anti-police brutality protest in Mott Haven, Bronx was strategically kettled. Among the protesters interviewed by the group was Andom Ghebreghiorgis, a former Bronx Congressional candidate, who described rampant violence. “We represent dozens of protesters from that night on claims against the NYPD,” said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, managing director of impact litigation at the Bronx Defenders. Demonstrations had been relatively peaceful in Mott Haven in the days before the June 4 protest in the South Bronx, residents told THE CITY. The demonstrators marched peacefully until their action was forcefully ended by the New York Police Department (NYPD) at the intersection of 136th Street and Brooke Avenue. 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. 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. 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. Although there was a feeling of “increased solidarity” in the community that first week of June, there was also “a lot of tension,” said Ivelyse Andino, an entrepreneur who lives in Mott Haven and rendered relief to medics at her home during the protests. Despite the governor’s promise of a progressive overhaul of the clemency process, very few people have made the cut. They trapped them on this narrow street and began making arrests. Dozens of people spent hours in detention with untreated wounds and their hands bound behind their backs. “At least, that’s the way that it felt to me.”. 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 … About 10 minutes before an 8 p.m. curfew – imposed after looting elsewhere in the city – scores of police officers surrounded and trapped the protesters – a tactic known as “kettling” – as they marched peacefully through Mott Haven. “There was an element of ‘This isn’t going to go well,’” Andino said. Diaz, others protests Mott Haven jail on City Hall steps. Application window widens, but some tenants are finding that extra unemployment payments knocked them out of the running. Email tips@thecity.nyc or visit our tips page for other ways to share. “Enhanced training and techniques have already been put into practice,” a spokesperson said. Beyond the initial costs of personnel and helicopters needed for the June 4 event, researchers highlighted the costs of arresting, transporting and processing protestors. The harrowing events of the evening of June 4 are etched in the minds of those South Bronx residents and hundreds of others who were demanding an end to police brutality only to be met with chemical sprays, fists and billy clubs at a protest in Mott Haven. Police arrested and took to jail at least 263 people, more than at any other protest in New York since Floyd’s killing. New York City police planned the assault and mass arrests of peaceful protesters in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx on June 4, 2020, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. One was held for a week. “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. Lawsuits against the NYPD are already underway, lawyers for some of the demonstrators said. U.S. immigration officers were also present that night, community members said. The Human Rights Watch wrote a report titled “New York Police Planned Assault on Bronx Protesters.” FTP/Decolonize This Place, the organizers, have been some of the most outspoken critics of the NYPD since before the current incarnation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Join our movement today. “At some point, I just didn’t dare to come out of the house,” he added. 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 CITY is an independent, nonprofit newsroom dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York. Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. 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? 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. Most were charged with Class B misdemeanors for curfew violations or unlawful assembly. 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. The Mott Haven protest was one of several that took place in New York City that day. But Now She May the Take the Ride He Never Finished, What’s Working And What Isn’t? 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. They were given summonses or desk appearance tickets with court dates in early October. Mott Haven is about 27 percent Black and 67 percent Hispanic, according to New York University’s Furman Center. US: President Should Set a Human Rights Foreign Policy, Q&A: Protecting the Vote from Security Risks in the US 2020 Elections, Qatar: Wage Abuse Action Shortchanges Workers, Singapore Judge Issues Death Sentence by Zoom, Human Rights Dimensions of COVID-19 Response, Turkey: Draft Law Threatens Civil Society, ‘Kettling’ Protesters in the Bronx: Systemic Police Brutality and Its Costs in the United States. “Then they dragged me on the ground and beat me with batons. 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. By Alex Mitchell Posted on March 30, 2019. 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. Then police descended on a trapped crowd, not allowing them to leave despite pleas to leave, injuring them physically and also, we think, causing them deep trauma.”. 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. The 99-page report, “‘Kettling’ Protesters in the Bronx: Systemic Police Brutality and Its Costs in the United States,” provides a detailed account of the police response to the June 4 peaceful protest in Mott Haven, a low-income, majority Black and brown community that has long experienced high levels of police brutality and systemic racism. Negotiations are heating up in Albany over an eviction fix. Mott Haven is a primarily residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. newsletter, These Restaurants Applied to Open During the Pandemic. One of the most infamous 'kettling' instances occurred on June 4 in the Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven when protesters violated the 8pm curfew. Now They’re Hoping Indoor Dining’s Return Will Finally Boost Business, ‘My Community Saved My Life’: Bystander Paralyzed in Brooklyn Shooting Speaks Out, Immigrant Corona Residents Lean on Relief Organizations — and Each Other, The Complaint Files NYPD Unions Don’t Want You to See, Here Are Their Names: Remembering the New Yorkers Lost to COVID-19, Sign up for the Schneps Media/Alex Mitchell. 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. 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. Participants who joined in a peaceful protest against police brutality in the Mott Haven area of the Bronx on Jun. Prospect Heights elementary school stages a video version of its annual dance event to keep a tradition going and spirits bright. 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 … In his defense of the NYPD, Shea said that the people who organized the Mott Haven demonstration were the same people who organized violent protests targeting city subways in January. There was a young woman to my right — she was lying down next to me and was unresponsive. 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. 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. Current Chief of Department Terence Monahan was also a key player during those operations. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that the NYPD was wrong for arresting legal observers during June’s Mott Haven protests over George Floyd’s death — but stopped short of criticizing the curfew crackdown at the time.