NYPD arrest human rights lawyer waiting outside restaurant while kids used bathroom

Cory Doctorow 10:00 pm Fri Sep 5, 2014

Chaumtoli Huq, former general counsel for NYC Public Advocate Tish James, attended a rally in Times Square with her family, and afterwards, waited on the sidewalk outside of a Ruby Tuesday restaurant while her husband took their children (10 and 6) to the bathroom.

NYPD Officer Ryan Lathrop and another cop told Huq that she had to move along. She stated that she had the right to stand on the sidewalk and asked what the problem was. She was then spun around, roughly pinned against the wall and cuffed, and then taken away without being allowed to tell her family what had happened to her.

When Huq's husband figured out — eventually — what had happened and went to the precinct house, the officers on duty questioned him as to why he had a different surname to his wife. One then told Huq that "In America wives take the names of their husbands."

Huq has filed a complaint with the NYPD Civilian Complaint Review Board.

"My civil rights were violated. I think that I was treated differently because of being a woman," she said. "I think I was targeted once my husband left. I think that I was being targeted based on my religion and my race."

"I went from being a mother to a prisoner and so I can't imagine mothers who experience their children or their boys having such an experience with police officers," Huq said. "That shouldn't be the case in New York."

The police department did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Mom Arrested for Blocking Sidewalk While Waiting for Family to Use Bathroom [Ben Fractenberg/DNA Info New York]

(via Reddit)

(Image: DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg)

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