NEW YORK — A civil liberties group accused police yesterday of lying about
the circumstances surrounding the arrests of hundreds of protesters during the
Republican National Convention.
In a letter to police and prosecutors, the New York Civil Liberties Union
demanded a review of cases brought against protesters arrested on Aug. 31, 2004,
at demonstrations near the World Trade Center site and Union Square.
“We are concerned that false police statements may have tainted hundreds of
cases of people arrested at the two largest mass arrests during the convention,”
wrote the group’s attorney, Christopher Dunn.
City law officials have said the arrests were justified.
The accusations stem from a tense standoff in 2004 between police and the
tens of thousands of demonstrators at the GOP convention, where President Bush
accepted his party’s nomination for a second term.
While demonstrations were mostly peaceful, sporadic clashes between police
and protesters resulted in more than 1,800 arrests, mostly on misdemeanor
charges like obstructing government administration.
Up to 10,000 officers were deployed at the four-day event — a show of force
the civil liberties group called overkill and a threat to free speech. Two
pending federal lawsuits claim most of the arrests were illegal.
The group’s letter cited sworn statements by officers who said they were told
by a supervisor, Deputy Inspector James Essig, that the protesters near Union
Square had been warned to stop blocking traffic and disperse before the arrests
began. About 400 people ended up in custody, including some rounded up with a
mesh net.
During a deposition earlier this month, Essig testified that “at no time did
he give an order to disperse nor did anyone else give such an order to
disperse,” Dunn wrote.
The group contends the contradictory statements are grounds to dismiss cases
and discipline police officers.
A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said
prosecutors “have been reviewing these arrests as the situations merit, and of
course we’ll continue to do that.”
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said police acted properly.