Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- May 30, 2020
- Case number
- 1:21-cv-06610
- Case Status
- Settled
- Type of case
- Civil
- Arrest Status
- Arrested and released
- Arresting Authority
- New York City Police Department
- Charges
-
-
Rioting: unlawful assembly
- May 31, 2020: Charges pending
- June 5, 2020: Charges dropped
-
Rioting: unlawful assembly
- Unnecessary use of force?
- Yes
Arrest/Criminal Charge
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
- Equipment Broken
- Actor
- Law enforcement
Equipment Damage
British photojournalist Adam Gray is arrested near Union Square in New York City on May 30, 2020.
Appeals court affirms photographers’ settlement with NYPD
An appeals court rejected a police union’s attempt to capsize a settlement agreement between five photojournalists and the New York City Police Department, affirming a consent decree on April 9, 2025, that lays out extensive rules for the NYPD’s interactions with journalists.
The photojournalists, represented by the National Press Photographers Association and law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, had sued in federal court in August 2021 alleging violations of their First Amendment rights while covering social justice protests in 2020. They reached a settlement in the case in September 2023.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon initially granted but then withdrew approval of the settlement when the Police Benevolent Association — the city’s largest police union — notified her of their opposition to the agreement, per a federal appeals court ruling allowing police unions to intervene in court cases involving NYPD policies.
But in February 2024, McMahon dismissed the police union’s arguments that the changes the agreement mandates would endanger officers and the public, and allowed the settlement to proceed.
And in April 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit affirmed McMahon’s ruling, rejecting the PBA’s argument that the policing practices it established would endanger officers’ safety and allowing the dismissal of the photographers’ suit in light of the settlement.
NPPA General Counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher told the Tracker that the settlement would allow it to work with the city and the NYPD for “meaningful change for policing in New York, especially as it relates to the First Amendment rights of the public and the press.”
“We are very pleased that the 2nd Circuit affirmed the settlement in this case and rejected the PBA’s groundless objections,” Osterreicher said.
Judge accepts journalists’ settlement with NYPD
A settlement agreement between five photojournalists and the New York Police Department was finally cleared for approval by a federal judge on Feb. 7, 2024, five months after a police union intervened in the suit, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The photojournalists initially reached the settlement in September 2023, resolving a federal lawsuit over violations of their First Amendment rights while covering social justice protests in 2020.
But a day after accepting the settlement, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon reversed her decision, writing that the Police Benevolent Association — the city’s largest police union — had submitted a letter opposing the agreement. An earlier federal appeals court ruling establishes that police unions can intervene in court cases involving NYPD policies.
In her latest ruling, however, McMahon dismissed the police union’s arguments that the changes the agreement mandates would endanger officers and the public, and allowed the settlement to proceed. “There is simply no evidence, let alone substantial evidence, that the public interest would be disserved if the settlement were approved,” she wrote.
The National Press Photographers Association had originally filed the lawsuit with the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in August 2021 on behalf of journalists Adam Gray, Mel D. Cole, Amr Alfiky, Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi and Jae Donnelly.
The wide-reaching settlement agreement lays out extensive rules for the NYPD’s interactions with journalists and formally acknowledges that the press has a clearly established First Amendment right to record police activity in public places. The agreement also prohibits kettling, a technique used by law enforcement to round up and arrest large groups.
Civil rights attorney Wylie Stecklow, a member of the plaintiffs’ legal team, said, “The NYPD’s abuse of the media has been a systemic issue for decades and this historic injunctive settlement can hopefully provide a brighter future for the press to document police interactions at First Amendment activities and beyond in this great city.
“This settlement is not the end,” Stecklow added. “It’s just the beginning of re-training and new NYPD policies to ensure there is respect and protection for the press, up and down the NYPD hierarchy.”
The PBA called the agreement “misguided,” saying in an online statement, “If the NYPD is unable to prevent future demonstrations from devolving into chaos, the parties who signed onto this settlement must bear the blame.” The union did not respond to a request from the Tracker for further comment.
NPPA General Counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher told the Tracker that the plaintiffs’ legal team is currently waiting for the judge to approve dismissal of the case now that the settlement is in place, and noted that the PBA may still appeal to the Second Circuit.
Judge voids First Amendment settlement with NYPD
One day after formally approving a settlement between five photojournalists and the New York Police Department, a judge vacated the order on Sept. 8, 2023.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon wrote that she had received a letter from the Police Benevolent Association — the city’s largest police union — opposing the federal settlement. The settlement, announced Sept. 5, addressed violations of the journalists’ First Amendment rights while covering social justice protests in 2020.
In reversing her order, McMahon cited an earlier ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that police unions should be allowed to intervene in court cases involving NYPD policies.
McMahon gave the police union and the settling parties until the end of October to file motions opposing or supporting the settlement, and has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 6.
Journalists reach ‘historic’ settlement with NYPD in First Amendment suit
Five photojournalists reached a settlement with the New York Police Department in their federal lawsuit for violations of their First Amendment rights while covering social justice protests in 2020, the National Press Photographers Association announced on Sept. 5, 2023.
The NPPA, which filed the lawsuit with the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in August 2021 on behalf of journalists Adam Gray, Amr Alfiky, Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi, Mel D. Cole and Jae Donnelly, called the agreement “historic,” and said it would provide new protections for journalists in New York, along with police training and policy changes.
The wide-reaching settlement agreement lays out extensive rules for the NYPD’s interactions with journalists and formally acknowledges that the press has a clearly established First Amendment right to record police activity in public places. Among other stipulations, it outlines that journalists credentialed by New York City may remain to report after a general public dispersal order has been made, and requires prior approval in some circumstances before a journalist can be arrested. The agreement also prohibits kettling, a technique used by law enforcement to round up and arrest large groups.
Policy changes, including annual training for NYPD officers and access for journalists to all public spaces, are also part of the agreement. The department must also designate a compliance officer for the settlement.
Per the settlement agreement, Gray will also receive a monetary settlement. The amount was not made public.
In a statement about the settlement, NPPA general counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher said he was pleased with the outcome and terms of the agreement. “Journalists are an essential part of a functioning, civil society and it’s essential that they be allowed to conduct their work free of harassment and assault, especially from state actors,” Osterreicher said.
British photographer sues NYPD for unlawful arrest, police brutality
British photojournalist Adam Gray and four other photographers filed a lawsuit against the New York Police Department on Aug. 5, 2021, in response to their unlawful arrests or assaults at the hands of police while documenting police activity in 2020.
Gray, chief photojournalist for UK-based South West News Service, was tackled to the ground and arrested while covering protests in downtown New York on May 30, 2020. Gray was held in police custody for nearly 11 hours and charged with unlawful assembly. The charge was dropped on June 5.
On Aug. 5, 2021, the National Press Photographers Association and the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP filed a suit on behalf of the five photographers alleging that the NYPD had violated their First Amendment rights.
The five photojournalists named as plaintiffs are :
“The right of journalists to record the activities of police officers engaged in their official duties in public places is fundamental," attorney Robert D. Balin of Davis Wright Tremaine said in a statement emailed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. "Yet the NYPD has demonstrated a longstanding custom, pattern, and practice of unlawfully interfering with this First Amendment right and that pattern was revealed with dreadful clarity during the George Floyd protests.”
According to the complaint, reviewed by the Tracker, the photographers are seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as an injunction directing the city of New York to effectively train officers on the right of the press and public to record police activity in public locations, cease arresting or using physical force against photographers and discipline the officers involved in such instances.
“There has been a longstanding failure on the part of the City to train, supervise, and discipline police who interfere with the media trying to do their jobs,” NPPA General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher said in a statement. “With this action, we're asking the court to finally call the NYPD to account for its unlawful practices.”
The NYPD did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Adam Gray, chief photojournalist for UK-based South West News Service, was pushed to the ground and arrested while covering protests in New York, New York, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Gray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had been documenting protests all day, and was photographing demonstrations in and around Union Square in Manhattan at around 10:40 p.m.
When Gray reached the front of a crowd of protesters on 13th Street, he said officers started charging the crowd and arresting protesters in what he described as “pandemonium.”
“I’m photographing this happening and I turn and I see this big guy, this cop coming at me,” Gray said. As the officer pushed him to the ground, two of the three cameras he was carrying “smashed” to the ground off his shoulders. Gray noted that luckily the only damage to the equipment was a broken UV lens filter.
Two additional officers then came up and assisted the first in restraining Gray and arresting him, he said.
“I have a lanyard that has my foreign press card in it around my neck,” Gray said. “They stood me up and another guy in white came up — I think he was a more senior officer — and I’m shouting at him as well that I’m foreign press, that I’m a photographer.”
Gray said they asked him whether his press pass was issued by the NYPD, and that he responded no, that it was a foreign press card issued by the US State Department. Gray told the Tracker that the officer said something to the effect of, “Alright, no no no, I’ll take him away.”
Officers then took Gray down the street and passed him off to another officer who was designated his arresting officer and was eventually listed on all of Gray’s arrest reports.
After being stripped of his equipment and re-cuffed, Gray waited on a prison transport bus with 50 to 60 others for half an hour until the rest of the seats were filled. He said he then waited an additional hour outside One Police Plaza due to the volume of arrestees that night.
“At this point, I feel like I’m just in the system and we’re going through with it, I’m being booked and that’s what’s happening. There’s nobody else there that I can speak to or remonstrate with,” Gray said.
After being processed, he was placed in a holding cell with 50-70 people crammed in shoulder-to-shoulder. Gray said that he still had a face mask in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, but most others did not.
Gray was released at around 9:30 a.m. — nearly 11 hours after his arrest — with a desk appearance ticket for unlawful assembly, a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30 minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second — maybe too long — to sort out.”
The Manhattan district attorney announced in a press release on June 5 that his office would not prosecute unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct arrests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
