Harlem Singer Sues City Over Arrest For Fighting Trump Supporter

HARLEM, NY — A singer for the Harlem Gospel Choir is suing New York City for violating her civil rights after she was arrested following a scuffle with a belligerent supporter of President Donald Trump.

LennAsia Harvey, 22, was walking by Trump Tower on Nov. 10, 2016 after performing with the Harlem Gospel Choir at the Plaza Hotel, according to a federal lawsuit. Harvey and a friend named Sharon noticed about 100 people protesting outside the fifth avenue skyscraper.

When Harvey and her friend passed by the protesters they noticed a middle-aged white man yelling at the crowd, according to a lawsuit. After the two friends passed by the protest, the man began to follow them and verbally harass them for several city blocks, Harvey claims in a lawsuit.

The man called Harvey and her friend "black beasts" and "n---ers" while he followed behind them, according to the lawsuit. Sharon attempted to push the man away when he walked up to them, causing him to fall to the ground "dramatically and conspicuously," Harvey claims in the lawsuit.

Police officers rushed around Harvey and her friend after the man fell, detaining them on the sidewalk. After interviewing the two women and the man, a police officer ordered Harvey and her friend to be arrested, the lawsuit claims. After several hours at an NYPD precinct, Harvey was released because the man told police she had nothing to do with the altercation, according to the lawsuit.

Police officers detained and arrested Harvey "because they were motivated to discriminate against [Harvey] due to her race and color," the lawsuit claims. Harvey claims that due to her arrest she suffered physical discomfort, emotional torment, public humiliation and disgrace within her community.

"We will review the suit and respond accordingly," a city Law Department spokesman said in a statement.

See the full lawsuit below:

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images