An Occupy Wall Street protester scored a $45,000 settlement from the city — and followed up by bragging that the money means the city is “sorry” for the way it treated her.
Rheannone Ball, 23, sued the NYPD over her September 2011 arrest near Union Square.
Rheannone BallTwitter“I wasn’t doing s— to get arrested,” Ball boasted to The Post. “It means they’re sorry in their own bureaucratic and municipal way.”
A photo of Ball’s arrest was used as a symbol of police violence by protesters during the 2011 movement, according to her Manhattan federal court lawsuit.
“As plaintiff Ball attempted to exit Union Square at its south east corner via the crosswalk at Union Square East and 14th Street, she was violently and without justification seized from behind by defendant [Deputy Inspector Anthony] Bologna,” states her suit, which starts out by quoting Martin Luther King Jr.
“Defendant Bologna and defendants [police officers] inexplicably grabbed plaintiff Ball causing her to choke, hoisting her into the air, and throwing her to the ground.”
Ball was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, but charges against her were eventually dismissed.
Ball’s $45,000 award includes legal fees, according to a city Law Department spokesman.
“It was in the city’s best interest to settle the litigation,” said the spokesman.
Ball said she works in a commercial photography studio and will attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn next year.
Her lawyer, David Rankin, didn’t return calls for comment.
