An Eagles fan knocked to the ground while celebrating won’t be able to sue Philadelphia over claims its cops follow a policy of excessive force against large crowds.
It’s just one part of Daniel Booth’s lawsuit against the city, and federal judge Juan Sanchez ruled March 26 that it must be dismissed. It’s a Monell claim, which allege the rights of the public are violated by city policy.
Booth says his injuries occurred because Philadelphia allows officers to use excessive force against crowds, plus issue false arrests and imprisonments. It also says Philadelphia fails to train officers like Nicholas Coco how to properly control crowds.
“In this case, Booth did not connect any wrongdoing by Coco to the City’s systemic failure to train him rather than his own faults as an officer,” Sanchez wrote.
It was January 2023 when the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFC Championship, sending them to an eventual Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Booth was recording a celebration at the intersection of Frankford and Cottman avenues when he says he was pushed from behind by law enforcement acting as crowd control.
When he turned around, Coco struck his phone with a nightstick, causing Booth to drop it, Booth says.
The two cursed at each other, and officers allegedly pushed Booth’s friend to the ground and hit him with a nightstick. Booth says he was also struck before being put in a headlock.
Booth was placed in a police van and is suing for excessive force. He complains of a $600 medical bill for his knee at an urgent care facility.
To prove the incident was the product of City policy, Booth’s lawyers at Abramson & Denenberg listed four incidents:
-A protestor pepper-sprayed in 2020;
-Tear gas and rubber bullets during a protest of the murder of George Floyd that led to a $9.25 million class action settlement;
-Excessive force at a counter protest in 2018; and
-A 2007 settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union over allegations a woman was arrested while holding a sign and handing out literature.
Sanchez says the pepper-spraying officer’s trial ended in a mistrial, the settlement contained language in which the City admitted no wrongdoing and officers in the counter protest were found not liable.
“These incidents, taken together, do not properly allege a pattern of conduct suitable for a Monell custom claim,” Sanchez wrote. “All incidents alleged by Booth are either not related to crowd control or resulted in verdicts for defendants, settlements or mistrials.”
Sanchez is allowing Booth to amend his claim.
