Complaint #200301371,
February 15, 2003

Summary

This complaint stems from the February 15, 2003 anti-war demonstration in Manhattan, which received extensive media coverage, hence the case was determined to be sensitive and placed on the agency's sensitive case list. [redacted] who was attending the demonstration, was standing at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 50th Street alongside an unidentified "older gentleman" and watched as the man was "pushed" from behind by a white male officer in uniform (allegation a: physical force). The officer was instructing demonstrators to leave the area; however, there was no egress due to crowding. When asked, "where do you want us to go?" the officer reportedly replied, "Why don't you go to Jersey, maybe they'll take you" (allegation b: discourtesy). The older gentleman and the officer became engaged in a verbal altercation, which did not result in an arrest or a summons; the man later told [redacted] that the officer's name was "Ferrara" and that his shield number was "31789."
PO Ferrara was working at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 50th Street during the demonstration; however, he had no recollection of interacting with [redacted] or the unidentified older man. PO Ferrara testified that he used force when dealing with numerous demonstrators and explained that it was the minimum amount of force needed to "clear some space" when the area around his immediate person became too crowded. [redacted]
[redacted] stated that the manner in which PO Ferrara articulated, "Why don't you go to Jersey, maybe they'll take you" was "scornful and mocking." PO Ferrara stated that he did not make such a statement and asserted that he was not rude to demonstrators. [redacted] Read report for details.