Brooklyn Man Who Was Choked During His Arrest Wins Lawsuit Against NYC

Kevin Dennis-Palmer, a 28-year-old father from Brooklyn, N.Y., settled a lawsuit against New York City for $75,000 for a 2013 incident that Dennis-Palmer alleges involved police brutality. He says that officers from the New York City Police Department used excessive force on him during a routine stop, including putting him in a choke hold, the…

Kevin Dennis-Palmer, a 28-year-old father from Brooklyn, N.Y., settled a lawsuit against New York City for $75,000 for a 2013 incident that Dennis-Palmer alleges involved police brutality. He says that officers from the New York City Police Department used excessive force on him during a routine stop, including putting him in a choke hold, the New York Daily News reports.

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More than a year before Eric Garner exclaimed โ€œI canโ€™t breathe! I canโ€™t breathe!โ€ to Staten Island police officers, Dennis-Palmer screamed those words to Brooklyn cops during his arrest.

It happened when Dennis-Palmer was parallel-parking his vehicle near his Brownsville home.ย After cops asked Dennis-Palmer to show his license and registration, he asked the cops why he was being stopped and pulled out a smartphone to record the exchange. Dennis-Palmer alleges that police officers smacked the phone out of his hands and dragged him out of the car through the window. Once outside, Dennis-Palmer said, the attack continued.

โ€œIโ€™m grabbed, basically by the back of my sweater, turned around and slammed down on the right side of my face. Thatโ€™s when the melee ensues and everyone jumps on me,โ€ Dennis-Palmer said.

The choke hold happened when he was lying on the floor, Dennis-Palmer said, and one of the officers โ€œtried picking him up by his neck,โ€ the Daily News reports.

โ€œIโ€™m yelling, โ€˜I canโ€™t breatheโ€”youโ€™re choking me! Just put the handcuffs on! I canโ€™t breathe! I canโ€™t breathe!โ€™โ€ Dennis-Palmer said.

After being processed and booked at a precinct, Dennis-Palmer went to the emergency room, where he was treated for a โ€œknot on his temple, a swollen eye, and cuts on his wrist and his head,โ€ the news site explains.

Recalling Garnerโ€™s death last July, Dennis-Palmer said, โ€œIt makes you realize how truly blessed you are to get out of that situation.โ€

New York City and the NYPD โ€œdid not acknowledge wrongdoing in the case,โ€ but Dennis-Palmerโ€™s lawyer Jeffrey Rothman explained why his clientโ€™s settlement is extremely significant, especially in light of the ongoing protests against the excessive force police have used in African-American communities.ย โ€œNo one suit is what forces change. Itโ€™s the accumulation of them that fosters public awareness โ€ฆ and the publicโ€™s demand for accountability,โ€ Rothman said.

Read more at the New York Daily News.

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