A $75,000 settlement was reached for the protester who was rammed by cops driving a New York Police Department cruiser through a 2020 George Floyd demonstration in Park Slope, reports Patch. The payout is in response to a lawsuit by Aaron Ross, one of several protesters injured seen in the viral videos from May 30, 2020.
"The police officers operating the aforementioned police vehicle drove said vehicle into the plaintiff and other protesters intentionally, or negligently and recklessly, without justification, authorization, provocation or cause," Ross's lawsuit states.
The videos show two NYPD cruisers being blocked by protesters at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and St. Marks Avenue. Many demonstrators pounded on the vehicles until one suddenly accelerated through the crowd and knocked down several protesters behind a barricade, the video shows.
After the video went viral, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio took a break from praising NYPD officers' "tremendous restraint" during the protests to expressing profound disappointment in the cops who were behind the wheel.
"There were many things done right by the NYPD," De Blasio stated. "There were also mistakes that must be investigated."
NYPD officials initially cleared the cops, leaving the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board to substantiate accusations against three cops involved in April 2022, according to city records.
