Incident details
- Updated on
- Date of incident
- June 5, 2021
- Case number
- 154736/2022
- Case status
- Ongoing
- Type of case
- Civil
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
- Equipment damaged
- Actor
- Law enforcement
Equipment Damage
Independent journalist sues NYPD over assault, arrest on grand larceny charge
Independent journalist Marcos Quinones filed a lawsuit against the city of New York on June 3, 2022, over an assault and equipment damage he suffered while covering a protest, and his subsequent arrest.
Quinones — who, as of June 2026, goes by his first name Marcos rather than his middle name Gabe — was covering a June 5, 2021, demonstration against curfew enforcement in New York’s Washington Square Park. At around 11 p.m., despite wearing press credentials, he was shoved and hit with a baton by a New York Police Department captain, who was named in the suit as Stephen Spataro.
According to the petition, the journalist’s camera was damaged as well.
A month later, the NYPD arrested Quinones on charges of grand larceny, alleging that he had attempted to steal the baton. The charges were dropped in November 2021.
Quinones’ petition alleges that the NYPD violated his civil rights, including by retaliating against his First Amendment rights, assaulting and falsely imprisoning him, and maliciously prosecuting him.
By mid-2026, the case had yet to reach a final determination.
“I think the state is just dragging its feet and has a slew of cases like this one,” Quinones told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “But this one is a little bit crazier because it was a captain of the NYPD who did all the things that I’m alleging.”
Independent photojournalist Gabe Quinones said he was assaulted by a New York City Police Department officer while covering demonstrations in Washington Square Park on June 5, 2021.
The park had been the site of both protests and street parties; Gothamist reported that for several months the NYPD had attempted to enforce the park’s largely ignored midnight curfew.
At the end of May, the NYPD said that officers, coordinating with the NYC Parks Department, would enforce a 10 p.m. closure of the park on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, according to Gothamist.
Quinones told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on June 5, officers arrived well before the closure of the park and advanced on the crowds gathered there shortly before 10 p.m.
In a post on Instagram, Quinones wrote: “The officers had instructed us to stay on the sidewalk and that’s exactly where I was when I was attacked. He shoved his baton into my chest causing bruising so I told him ‘I’m press’, before I could pull out the badge he bum rushed me pinning me to a wall and shoving his baton into me further.”
At approximately 12:55 minutes into video footage from news agency FreedomNews.TV and filmed by @scootercasterNY, an NYPD officer appears to push Quinones against a doorframe and then take a baton swipe at him as he runs away.
“After [the officer shoved] me the first time, I sort of fell backward and I instinctively reached out for anything to sort of catch myself and so I grabbed his baton,” Quinones said. “That’s when he shoved me back into the wall.”
Quinones told the Tracker the officer who struck him never spoke to him beyond telling him to get on the sidewalk, where he already was. He said he filed a complaint against the officer and was contacted by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Office to provide his footage and answer questions about the incident.
On July 6, Quinones said officers arrived at his apartment and arrested him on charges of grand larceny, alleging that he had attempted to steal the officer’s baton during the June 5 incident. Quinones said he was held for three to four hours before being released with a hearing scheduled for July 26. The Tracker has documented that arrest here.
The NYPD didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
