New York AG Letitia James forces NYPD to send less officers to protests after BLM agitators win $13.7 million 2020 riot lawsuit

In response to a legal settlement following the New York City Police Department’s response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, the NYPD will be adopting new policies including sending fewer officers to protests in order to protect the rights of activists.

According to NBC 4, on Tuesday a 44-page agreement was filed in Manhattan federal court that creates a tiered system of response to protests and requires the department to deploy fewer officers to most public protests. The agreement also bans “kettling,” a tactic that traps large groups of protestors in order to arrest them.

The agreement still needs to be approved by a federal judge.

Under the new tiered enforcement, NYPD commanders will designate protests as one of four tiers. Higher levels of mobilization will be in response to direct threats to public safety or critical infrastructure and lower-tier responses mean that officers must accommodate street demonstrations, including those that block traffic.

In the wake of the death of George Floyd in 2020, rioters set fire to police cruisers and hurled objects at officers. Hundreds of officers were injured while trying to quell the unrest. However, some nonviolent demonstrators were also arrested for low-level misdemeanors, such as blocking traffic or disorderly conduct.

New York State Democratic Attorney General Letitia James filed the lawsuit in 2021 regarding the protestors’ civil rights and said in a statement regarding the agreement, “Too often peaceful protesters have been met with force that has harmed innocent New Yorkers simply trying to exercise their rights. Today’s agreement will meaningfully change how the NYPD engages with and responds to public demonstrations in New York City.”

Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who is a former police captain, said in a statement that the settlement ensured “…that we are both protecting public safety and respecting protesters’ First Amendment rights.”

In July, the City of New York settled a class-action lawsuit filed by George Floyd rioters, agreeing to pay $13.7 million in damages after the plaintiffs claimed that officers had "violated" their rights via the use of "unlawful" tactics.
 

James has brought forth a lawsuit against 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and three of his children, alleging that they engaged in fraudulent business practices.