Lawmakers Sue N.Y.P.D., Saying They Were Beaten With Bicycles at Protest

State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblywoman Diana Richardson say they were assaulted and pepper-sprayed by the police during last year’s Black Lives Matter protests.

Two New York lawmakers who said they were surrounded, beaten with bicycles and pepper-sprayed by the police during a Black Lives Matter protest in Brooklyn last year filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the city on Monday, adding to the blizzard of litigation over the Police Department’s conduct during the protests. The suit from State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblywoman Diana Richardson accuses the police of violating their free-speech rights, assaulting them and illegally detaining Mr. Myrie. It names Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea and six individual officers as defendants. “The experience was a painful and humiliating reminder that following the rules and complying with police orders does not protect Black Americans from police brutality, not even Black Americans who have ascended to elected office,” the suit states. Both lawmakers are Black, though the suit does not accuse the police of singling them out because of their race.