By Eric Klein and Kevin Deutsch
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A Bronx judge on Friday dismissed 312 summonses the NYPD issued to protestors arrested at a June 4 demonstration decrying the police killing of George Floyd.
Judge George Grasso tossed the summonses— issued for disorderly conduct and curfew violations—at the request of the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
“I believe it serves no purpose to summon hundreds of people to the courthouse for low-level violations,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said last week. “These unprecedented times require prosecutors to be flexible as well as compassionate.”
Police violently cracked down on curfew-breaking protestors at the June 4 protest, with smartphone footage showing cops beating demonstrators with batons, using force to arrest multiple marchers, and hauling zip-tied activists off to jail in waiting Department of Correction buses.
The police action was personally overseen by NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, who was seen on video directing officers to take at least one peaceful demonstrator into custody, authorities said.
Witnesses at the time told Bronx Justice News that a large number of cops arrived at the protest in force fifteen minutes before curfew, hemmed in demonstrators once the clock struck 8 p.m., and began arresting marchers.
The defendants whose summonses were thrown out Friday will be notified by the court, prosecutors said.