Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- May 18, 2021
- Targets
- Sean Waltrous (Independent)
- Case number
- 452435/2022
- Case Status
- Ongoing
- Type of case
- Civil
- Arrest Status
- Arrested and released
- Arresting Authority
- New York City Police Department
- Charges
-
-
Blocking traffic: walking improperly on a roadway
- May 18, 2021: Charges pending
- July 13, 2021: Charges dropped
-
Blocking traffic: walking improperly on a roadway
- Unnecessary use of force?
- Yes
Arrest/Criminal Charge

Palestinian supporters face off with police during a demonstration near the United Nations headquarters in New York City on May 18, 2021. Independent photographer Sean Waltrous was arrested while covering the protest.
Independent photographer Sean Waltrous, arrested while covering a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York, New York, on May 18, 2021, sued the city and two New York City Police Department officers a year later, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protest at New York’s Israeli consulate was one of several demonstrations organized across the U.S. in May 2021 in response to heavy Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Waltrous said in his May 2022 lawsuit that he was at the protest as a member of the media, and was clearly identifiable by the press pass around his neck and the expensive camera he was carrying. He said he was positioned away from the protesters and police in order to better capture events, and that at times he went into the street to get shots of the protesters on the sidewalk.
At around 6 p.m., he said, the crowds had swelled and “had become too large to be accommodated on the sidewalk.” Sometime after that, Waltrous said he was “pushed and shoved aggressively, initially from the rear” by one of the unnamed NYPD officers designated in the complaint, who was trying to force him onto the sidewalk.
The officer then roughly grabbed and pulled Waltrous back, and “dragged/pushed” him toward a police van, where he was zip-tied, the complaint said. After around 20 minutes, he was put in a police transport vehicle, which Waltrous noted was “particularly uncomfortable” due to his size.
Waltrous said that the NYPD officers proceeded to talk among themselves about what charges to bring against him and the other detainees. Waltrous recorded the conversation with his phone, which remained on and in his bag.
In the recording, which was later posted on social media, NYPD officers can be heard discussing their “story” of why they arrested him, with one officer saying that instead of issuing summonses, which were an “inconvenience” for them, he would prefer to “just fucking hit ‘em with a stick.”
Waltrous was brought to an NYPD precinct and released after around three hours with a summons to appear in court on July 16 on a charge of “walking on the roadway with available sidewalk,” a violation that could lead to up to 15 days in jail.
After his release, Waltrous added that he sought medical attention for injuries received during his arrest to his right elbow, wrist and hand.
Waltrous was later notified that the NYPD had not filed charges, so he did not need to appear.
In his lawsuit, Waltrous accused the city and the officers of false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and infliction of emotional distress. He also accused the defendants of negligence in hiring, training and supervising the officers.
Waltrous sought compensatory and punitive damages of $2 million for each of six claims.
Waltrous declined to comment while the litigation was in progress.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].