Local activist to sue NYPD and city after having charges dismissed
Court documents alleged that in September, Terrell Harper led a protest to the home of a police officer who he says got physical with someone at a different rally.
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Terrell Harper, better known as "Relly Rebel," is a community organizer and activist in Bed-Stuy who says he is planning to sue both the NYPD and New York City after recently having charges dropped against him.
"I just felt like they were trying to break me from being out here doing this," Harper said, referring to the weekly community food distribution event put on by his organization, "We the People NYC."
Court documents alleged that in September, Harper led a protest to the home of a police officer who he says got physical with someone at a different rally.
Once they were there, Harper allegedly entered the officer's private property and started trying to kick in the door and open the windows.
Harper maintained that he stayed on the sidewalk the entire time, and a source confirms the charges were dismissed after prosecutors reviewed evidence from that night and could not find any evidence of those allegations.
"We never do that so, I was pretty confident the whole time," Harper said. "I was just waiting for it to be over."
The Police Benevolent Association had said cases like this were why there needs to be stronger laws protecting officers from being tracked down at home.
In a statement, the PBA said “This dismissal is a shocking slap in the face to every police officer in this city, especially our brother whose home and family were attacked, because he was never notified that the case was being dismissed. This vile, cop-hating defendant routinely brags online about harassing police officers. He has made it his mission to prevent us from doing our job to protect the public, and the justice system is helping him do just that. When we say that the system doesn’t have our backs, this is what we’re talking about.”
In response to that, Harper countered that "we don't do anything violent, we just go and let their neighborhood know what they're doing in our neighborhood."
Harper says during this process, the city and NYPD defamed him and violated his civil rights, so now, he will be looking for damages in a lawsuit.
"I want to blow it up," Harper said. "I happened to escape it, but it's happening to other people, and this is the only way our message is sent to them is to hit their pockets, because we go, we file complaints on these officers, and these officers - nothing happens to them."
Harper says he has been going through options for different lawyers, and did notice that well-known civil rights attorney Ben Crump shared his story on social media.
