A New York City woman intends to file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city after she was arrested for not wearing a face mask properly.
Kaleemah Rozier, 22, said her rights were violated and filed a $10 million notice of claim against the city on Thursday for “excessive force” and wrongful arrest.
“I just want justice,” Rozier told ABC News.
Rozier was walking with her 5-year-old son in Brooklyn when six New York City police officers stopped her. The officers told Rozier that she was not properly wearing her mask because it was not fully covering her mouth and nose in accordance with the state’s mandate on the use of face coverings.
A spokeswoman for the department said Rozier started cursing at the officers when they asked her to adjust her mask and threatened to cough on them. The department said Rozier resisted their orders, eventually leading to an arrest and three misdemeanor charges for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and harassment.
Rozier claims the arrest was unwarranted and that excessive force was used. She said she did not resist the officers but was still forced to the ground, where she was “pushed in the back of her head and neck to the ground, had her arm pulled and twisted, had a knee pressed in the back of her neck and forcefully placed in handcuffs.”
Rozier said her son was “pulled away from her” during the arrest and held in a separate cell for four hours while her charges were being processed. She claims to have suffered injuries to her neck, back, wrists, hips, and knee.
Only the second half of the incident was filmed by a bystander and posted to social media. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned the arrest after seeing the footage and said it was “just not right.” He also announced that officers could no longer arrest residents for not wearing a mask.
Face coverings are important to protect everybody — they’re not optional.
But no one wants to see an interaction turn into this.
We’ve made progress with de-escalation. This isn’t it. https://t.co/jVx22uLSj8
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 14, 2020
Sanford Rubenstein, Rozier’s attorney, said de Blasio’s remarks did not heal the trauma that was experienced by Rozier and her young son.
“[De Blasio’s remarks don’t] undue the physical and psychological injuries suffered by this mother and her 5-year-old son as the result of the actions taken by these NYPD officers,” Rubenstein said.
Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, said the office was “looking into dismissing the charges” filed against Rozier during the arrest. She has not yet been given a court date.
The New York City police department is one of many departments facing protests against police brutality and racial injustice after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day.
