Port Authority Police Target Gay Men In Bathroom Arrests, Lawsuit Says

PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL, NY — Port Authority police officers are targeting gay men using the bus terminal's bathrooms in an effort to boost arrest numbers, a lawsuit claims.

The suit was filed by two men who say officers in the Midtown terminal make bogus public lewdness arrests by following men they think are gay or gender non-conforming into restrooms and accusing them of masturbating.

The legal action, backed by the Legal Aid Society and law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, seeks an injunction to stop the officers and monetary damages for the plaintiffs. The complaint was filed against Port Authority, the police department and multiple police officers.

Cornell Holden, who is one of the named plaintiffs in the suit, says he was arrested in a Port Authority bathroom in 2014 after he used a urinal. He said he heard his arresting officer was congratulated by his colleagues, who allegedly called him the “gay whisperer.”

The charges against Holden, 30, were later dismissed. His co-plaintiff, Miguel Mejia, was also arrested in 2014. Mejia was acquitted after a trial.

Plainclothes officers allegedly use the urinal next to someone they are targeting. They then arrest the individual as they exit, according to the suit.

The men say that officers know most people charged will plead guilty instead of facing the embarrassment of defending themselves in court.

This is not the first time that the Port Authority officers have been accused of fabricating crimes. In 2004, a jury awarded $1.1 million to Alejandro Martinez, who sued Port Authority police after he was arrested on public lewdness charges at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. The jury’s award was later reduced to $464,000.

New York state senator Brad Hoylman, a Democrat from Manhattan, said on Tuesday he was "deeply troubled" by the allegations.

"I call on the Port Authority police to end this discriminatory practice immediately and drop any and all charges in connection with these anti-gay sting operations," Hoylman said in a statement.

A Port Authority spokesman declined to comment to Patch.

Lead image courtesy of Roger Rowlett via Creative Commons.