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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

NYC Settles Lawsuit for $75,000 over 2013 Police Chokehold

The city of New York has agreed to pay a Brooklyn man $75,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming he was choked and unable to breathe during a 2013 encounter with police.

A federal judge approved the settlement last week, and New York City Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said that "based on an evaluation of the case, it was determined that the settlement was in the best interests of the city."

Attorney Jeffrey Rothman said Monday that the settlement for Kevin Dennis-Palmer Sr. was "another example of a black man choked and beaten down into the ground."

Paolucci did not immediately respond Monday evening to an email seeking comment on Rothman's characterization of the case.

The lawsuit was filed in May before the death of Eric Garner last summer, whose treatment by police and a grand jury decision not to indict any officers prompted nationwide protests.

Garner, a large man suffering from asthma, died after a New York police officer placed him in an apparent chokehold during an arrest in July for selling loose cigarettes. A widely seen video showed Garner gasping: "I can't breathe," as he was wrestled to the ground in Staten Island by police.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow they got off easy on that one

Anonymous said...

I'm sure he was an innocent scholar, and did not resist, or provoke the officer.

/sarcasm.

Anonymous said...

3:26 How often do police chumps do the provoking? And killing?