A Manhattan judge threatened to fine the NYPD for flouting a court order to turn over surveillance records of Black Lives Matter protests at Grand Central Terminal following the death of Eric Garner.
But a city spokesman said the department is “constrained by genuine security concerns from explaining publicly how disclosure could endanger the lives and safety of undercover officers.”
In February, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez told the NYPD to release “multimedia records,” including communications between undercover officers and surveillance video of demonstrators at Grand Central from November 2014 to January 2015, after a protester sued for disclosure under the state’s Freedom of Information Law last year.
Mendez found the department in contempt of court Monday for disobeying his “unequivocal mandate.”