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Video: City Pays $55K To OWS Protester Injured By NYPD Chief
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 24, 2014
Modified Apr 24, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 24, 2014
Modified Apr 24, 2014
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A few months after he flung an Occupy Wall Street livestreamer Josh Boss to the ground for crossing 34th Street at 7th Avenue, Chief Thomas Purtell, then-commander of all nine of the police precincts in Lower Manhattan, was asked about the violent arrest. "I'm gonna tell you right now, that video did not show it," Purtell tells an amiable gadfly. "What's perceived on the video is not what happened….No one was beaten, realistically." The City's Law Department might disagree with that assessment, as it just agreed to pay Boss a $55,000 settlement for his arrest.
"Hi! How are you?!" Chief Purtell shouts at Boss shortly after flinging him to the ground. "Get the cameras!"
Boss asks to stand up on his own so the two sets of flex cuffs on his hands aren't tightened any further, but his plea is ignored. Officers pick him up by the handcuffs, cutting off the circulation to his hands. Audio on Boss' camera catches an NYPD officer in the paddy wagon telling a fellow officer that he is changing Boss' cuffs because "his hands are turning blue."
Boss was charged with disorderly conduct, but the charges were later dropped. He sued for false arrest and excessive force, claiming that the incident gave him nerve damage.
“For a senior commanding officer of the NYPD to target videographers and use excessive force like this, in front of so many subordinate officers and citizens, sets a terrible example," Boss' attorney, Wylie Stecklow, of Stecklow Cohen & Thompson says in a release.
Last fall the City paid $50,000 to three OWS protesters who were unlawfully detained, and another $233K to settle a case filed by the People's Library, which was destroyed during the raid of Zuccotti Park. During an Occupy march in September, we met Jed Meighan, who won a $55,000 settlement from the City because he sued after a police officer shoved him to the ground, breaking his wrist. Other large settlements are pending.
Chief Purtell was later promoted to head of the department's organized crime division, and was considered to replace the Chief of Detectives and the head of IAB. During a large march to protest the verdict in the Trayvon Martin murder case, Chief Purtell tolerated the event until the march hit East 71st Street and Park Avenue, where demonstrators were pepper-sprayed and arrested.
Tagged
Chief Thomas Purtell
city settlements
nypd
occupy wall street
protests
original
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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