“In city after city, we are witnessing actions that could be considered unnecessary or excessive force,” said Rachel Ward, national director of research at Amnesty International USA.

May 30, 2020

A chorus of elected officials and leaders have proclaimed that the Constitutional Right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct and an appropriate outlet for the clear anger and frustration being felt by countless African Americans across the country. Andrew Smith, an African American, was in New York City exercising his constitutional right to peacefully protest the abhorrent racist and violent death of George Floyd. Unfortunately for Mr. Smith, while exercising that right, and following instructions by police officers from the New York City Police Department, a police officer ripped off Mr. Smith’s Covid-19 protective mask in the middle of a crowd of protesters and pepper sprayed him in his face. At the time of the attack Mr. Smith had his hands raised high in the air in an effort to make clear he was compliant and no threat to the officers. His compliant posture left him unable to protect himself from the full blast of the pepper spray. He was attacked by a police officer sworn to protect and serve him.

The attack was caught on video. The video demonstrates the excessive, unreasonable, inappropriate and illegal act by the NYPD officer who not only violated Mr. Smith’s right to peacefully protest but also exposed him to contracting coronavirus by removing his personal protective equipment. Such egregious conduct by a member of law enforcement demands both criminal and civil redress.

Attorneys Alain V. Massena Esq. and Kareem R. Vessup Esq., have undertaken the representation of Mr. Smith. Their offices seek the following: 1) for the illegal conduct of the NYPD officer to be prosecuted criminally to the fullest extent of the law; 2) for the officer, his supervisors and their employer to be held responsible civilly for this conduct, and 3) for NYPD to modify the training provided to officers in these incidents to avoid future abuses of individual’s constitutionally protected rights. Attorneys Massena and Vessup along with Mr. Smith and his family believe that justice demands no less.

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Further updates to follow please direct all inquiries to:

Alain V. Massena, Esq.
212-766-1700
avm@massenalaw.com
www.massenalaw.com