Complaint #202101617,
November 4, 2020

Summary

On November 4, 2020, at approximately 8:15 p.m., [redacted] and [redacted] who do not know one another, were at a protest that had begun at Washington Square Park and traveled around in the streets of lower Manhattan. When the protest reached the intersection of East 8th Street and 5th Avenue, demonstrators stopped for a time. Officers began arresting civilians, at times using force to effect arrests (The broader use of force by officers during the larger context of this incident is being addressed in CCRB case #202007314). [redacted] was allegedly pulled off the sidewalk by an unknown officer and fell to the ground (Allegation A: Force – Physical force (dragged/pulled) – [redacted]). He was then struck by one or more unknown officers with batons (Allegation B: Force – Nightstick as club (incl asp &baton) - [redacted]). [redacted] and [redacted] were detained and brought to 1 Police Plaza.
At approximately 12:15 a.m. on November 5, 2020, while being walked out of 1 Police Plaza by Detective Philip Giardina of Queens South Narcotics, [redacted] witnessed Detective Giardina make a joke to officers whom they walked past, the punchline of which was the number three. Detective Giardina allegedly signified this punchline with a hand gesture in which his thumb and forefinger formed a circle while the other three fingers were splayed, which [redacted] believed to be intended as a "white power" hand symbol forming the letters "W" and "P" (Allegation C: Offensive Language - Other - [redacted]). [redacted] and [redacted] were both released with summonses for walking on the street when there was an available sidewalk (VTL 1156(A)), issued by Detective Giardina (Board Review 68, 69). Read report for details.