Why This N.Y.P.D. Detective Is Suing a Protester

In an unusual move, Detective Vincent Cheung is suing a man who hurled racist insults at him. The lawsuit raises thorny questions about free speech.

When demonstrations against racism and brutality in policing filled New York’s streets last summer, the police confronted protesters with tactics so aggressive and at times violent that a remorseful Mayor Bill de Blasio later issued a public apology. But a year after George Floyd’s murder, police officers around the country say that they have been subjected to taunts and insults during the demonstrations that have left them feeling vilified. Now, one New York City police union is testing an unusual new tactic to hit back at protesters: suing them. Last week, on the same day Mayor de Blasio released new guidelines for how the police would respond to protests, a New York City police detective, Vincent Cheung, announced that he was suing a protester who was caught on video hurling racist, anti-Asian insults at him during a protest in March.