Cop denies using excess force in Floyd protester nab

An NYPD inspector testified at a departmental trial Thursday that his two baton strikes on a George Floyd protester’s backpack was the least amount of force possible after he was pushed during a demonstration that turned confrontational.

At his trial on charges of using excessive force, Inspector Jesse Lance’s testimony differed from that of the protester, Kedwin Payamps, who claims he was hit five times in the back.

Lance said his testimony was based on his recollections of the event as well as a review of video and written reports about the June 4, 2020, protest in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, one of several in the city that day.

Lance said Payamps was part of a group of bicyclists that had earlier played the role of “obstructionists,” blocking police from doing their job at the demonstration, during which bottles were thrown at officers.

Nicole Jardim, a prosecutor for the Civilian Complaint Review Board, noted that Lance had made no such mention of that before, including when he was interviewed by the CCRB 14 months after the incident. “But today you remembered?” she asked.

Lance, a 24-year NYPD veteran, said his memory was jogged by reading 1,700 pages of documents connected to the protest and the allegation against him and by viewing at least hundreds of times the video in question.

“I’m telling you as I see it today,” Lance testified at the trial, held at 1 Police Plaza. “Yes, I’m able to deduce and know that happened.”

The video played at the trial shows Payamps, now 31, looking back at Lance on Washington Ave. near Fulton St. as Lance said he approached to make an arrest because a citywide 8 p.m. curfew had gone into effect more than two hours earlier. The video does not show Payamps blocking police at that point.

Payamps earlier this month testified he was pedaling past the protest when he was rushed by a group of cops who moved in to handcuff him after the confrontation with Lance. He said he was struck in the legs with batons, and Lance’s lawyer has argued that he was not seriously hurt.

“It’s going to be a long night for you,” he said one cop told him before handcuffing him for violating curfew. The curfew violation charge was dismissed about a month later.

Also Thursday, Officer Corey Johnson said that while working the same demonstration, he was trying to help clear the street of protestors when a camera caught him shoving journalist Nick Pinto to the ground.

Johnson, who is also accused of excessive force, said he understand why people who saw the video believe he shoved Pinto, who was working for WNYC radio.

“But there was no ill intent to hurt Mr. Pinto,” Johnson said. “I was trying to clear that block, that sidewalk.” Pinto was not hurt.

The CCRB wants Lance to lose 25 vacation days and Johnson to lose 25 vacation days. Both, the CCRB said, should also be placed on dismissal probation.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell will make the final decision in the case in the coming weeks.