Activist To Sue City For Arrest: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — An activist is planning to sue the city and the NYPD for his violent arrest during a March protest in Times Square, according to reports.

Hawk Newsome, of the group Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, claims he was assaulted by an NYPD officer on March 28 when he told the officer to stop jabbing him with a mountain bike, Gothamist first reported. Black Lives Matter of Greater New York is not affiliated with the national Black Lives Matter movement.

"He started punching me, and all of a sudden they're all on top of me, swinging me around and ripping my shoulder," Newsome told Gothamist.

Newsome was carrying a sign that read "Blue Klux Klan" when he was arrested, Gothamist reported. His lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, told Gothamist he plans to file a lawsuit against the city and police department on Friday and said the NYPD may be targeting leaders of activists groups for arrest.

Newsome was one of 11 people arrested during a March 28 protest that began in Columbus Circle and spread to Times Square. Protesters flooded Midtown Manhattan streets in protest of the fatal shooting of Stephon Clark by police in Sacramento, California.

Clark, 23, was fatally shot by two Sacramento police officers on March 18 in his own backyard. Officers responded to Clark's backyard after receiving calls that a black man was vandalizing cars in the area, according to California officials.

The officers said Clark advanced toward them in a threatening manner and appeared to be holding a gun. Officers shot 20 rounds at Clark, who was actually holding a cellphone. California's Department of Justice has said it will investigate the shooting.

Read the full Gothamist article here.

Photo by M. Stan Reaves/REX/Shutterstock