Two high-ranking NYPD cops who were battered and bloodied during violent clashes with anti-police activists on the Brooklyn Bridge filed civil suits against their alleged attackers on Tuesday.
Lt. Michael Butler and Lt. Richard Mack both claim in court papers that they were “assaulted, without provocation” during a protest last year over the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin.
Butler had his scalp split open, allegedly by a woman wielding a wooden cane, while Mack suffered fractured orbital bones when he was allegedly pummeled by two men, at least one whom he said wore heavy rings that amounted to a set of brass knuckles.
Both cops are seeking unspecified damages for their injuries, which include “contusions, abrasions, soreness, sleeplessness and agitation, and significant pain and suffering,” according to their largely identical suits filed separately in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Butler’s suit targets Chanice Reyes of Morris Plains, N.J., who infamously flipped off photographers following her arrest last year.
Court papers say Butler was trying to “effect a lawful arrest” on July 15, 2020, when Reyes allegedly “intervened and…intentionally struck Plaintiff in the head with a cane, causing serious injury to his head, as well as pain and bruising to Plaintiff’s hands.”
Mack’s suit names as defendants Quran Campbell and Banks Shaborn, both of The Bronx, who court papers say “intentionally and continuously struck Plaintiff’s face, causing serious injury to orbital bone [sic], as well as pain and bruising to Plaintiff’s face and head.”
Butler is one of two cops who Reyes allegedly attacked on the Brooklyn Bridge when counter-demonstrators disrupted a planned “unity” march, leading to a series of clashes.
Then-NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan — who was caught on video climbing a fence to trade blows with one activist — suffered a broken finger during the explosion of violence.
The three defendants were previously named in an April indictment in which they’re variously charged with attacking Butler and Mack.
Campbell is also charged with assaulting Monahan, and Reyes is charged with assaulting Sgt. Richard Adamiak.
They’ve all pleaded not guilty and are due in criminal court on Aug. 16.
Reyes alleged fled the clashes on the bridge but was busted around 5:10 a.m. the following morning during a traffic stop near John Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan, blocks from where anti-cop activists were maintaining an encampment in a support of the “defund the police” movement.
The “Occupy City Hall” protest helped spur Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council to slash $1 billion from the NYPD budget last year.
Reyes allegedly resisted arrest by kicking at one cop and trying to bite another on the head.
Later that day, she was hauled out of the 5th Precinct stationhouse in handcuff and leg shackles, but she managed to work her hands in front of her body to give the middle finger to journalists gathered outside before being put in an ambulance for a preliminary psychiatric exam.
“I didn’t attack nobody,” she claimed at the time.
On July 17, she was released on bail from the Manhattan Detention Complex — also known as “the Tombs” — leading her to whoop and jump for joy before heading back to the encampment and disappearing inside a makeshift, black tent.
Campbell’s lawyer said he “looks forward to explaining his side of the story, fighting these charges, and his day in court.”
Lawyers for Reyes and Shaborn didn’t return requests for comment.
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