New York City has agreed to pay $75,000 to one of the protesters struck by an NYPD cruiser during the 2020 protests against police brutality.
A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department confirmed the settlement was recently reached with Aaron Ross, a 35-year-old Sheepshead Bay resident. Ross was among a crowd of demonstrators who were rammed by officers driving NYPD SUVs on Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope after protesters blocked the officers’ path and threw debris at their vehicles.
Video of the May 30, 2020 clash circulated widely online and became a defining image of the protests that gripped the city in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In his lawsuit, Ross said he suffered herniated discs and spinal trauma after the police officer accelerated into him. He described his reaction to the settlement as “bittersweet,” questioning why the officers involved had still not faced discipline.
“I’m happy to know that I won my lawsuit, but at the same time I’m angry the police are not going to be criminally prosecuted for the crime they committed against me and dozens of other protesters,” he said.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The settlement comes after city taxpayers paid out $121 million in police misconduct lawsuits last year, the highest total in five years. It also follows a settlement from earlier this month wherein the city agreed to pay out roughly $6 million to protesters who were injured in the police crackdown on a protest in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx.
Several of the largest lawsuits stemming from the 2020 protests are still being litigated.
The ramming incident unfolded on one of the first nights of widespread protests, and was seen by protesters as proof of the NYPD’s disproportionate reaction to the demonstrations – as well as then-Mayor Bill de Blasio’s conflicting response to allegations of police brutality.
After initially scolding protesters for surrounding the car, de Blasio later tempered his criticism, calling the NYPD’s actions “dangerous and unacceptable.”
But then-NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea maintained that police acted reasonably, and the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau declined to pursue disciplinary actions against the officers.
Last April, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent police watchdog, substantiated charges against two officers, Daniel Alvarez and Andrey Samusev, for driving into the protesters.
At a trial in December, the officers described fearing for their lives, claiming they were “under attack” by violent demonstrators.
“I wasn’t prepared for this,” Alvarez said. “We’ve never been trained on this.”
The Deputy Commissioner of Trials has yet to make a recommendation in those cases, records show. It will be up to Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell to make a final determination on whether to accept the ruling.
