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The trial began Tuesday for a former Philadelphia SWAT officer accused of pepper spraying kneeling protesters during mass racial justice demonstrations on I-676 nearly three years ago.
Richard Paul Nicoletti left the courtroom quickly after pleading not guilty to three counts each of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and official oppression as well as one count of possession of an instrument of crime.
Three witnesses also testified for the prosecution. The judge has placed a gag order on the case. The trial will resume Wednesday morning.
Nicoletti is accused of spraying multiple protesters on June 1, 2020, after they walked onto Interstate 676 in Center City during widespread demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died handcuffed after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes on May 25, 2020.
Nicoletti turned himself in and was suspended 30 days on June 26, 2020. He was later fired.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said video evidence, as well as eyewitness testimony, showed Nicoletti spraying protesters and causing “physical harm, panic, and confusion.”
The officer sprayed two kneeling protesters – pulling one’s goggles down before spraying her again – before “violently” throwing a sitting protester onto his back and spraying him as well, Krasner said.
The use of force against protesters in Philadelphia sparked national attention and later prompted an apology from both Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney.
“That police officer walked towards us, and that’s actually all I remember. I blacked out,” said Katherine Miller, who was sprayed and was also a plaintiff in one of multiple lawsuits against the city.
Kevin Mincey, an attorney representing Miller and other plaintiffs, said Nicoletti was out to “exact revenge” and that his clients were “dealing with the emotional distress that comes with experiencing something like this.”
On May 17, 2021, municipal court Judge William Austin Meehan Jr. dismissed the charges against Nicoletti.
Krasner reinstated the charges against Nicoletti on October 20, 2021, however.
John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 union, characterized Krasner’s announcement of the reinstated charges against Nicoletti, as well as other press releases announcing charges against police officers, as a politically motivated move to boost his reelection chances ahead of his victory on November 2, 2021.
The police union has regularly sparred with the district attorney and backed 2021 primary challenger Carlos Vega, whom Krasner defeated ahead of his win in the general election.
“Krasner refuses to hold dozens of unlawful protesters accountable, those who set fire and looted our great city,” McNesby said at the time. “This double-standard of justice is unacceptable. We will continue to provide an appropriate defense for officer Nicoletti as this case moves forward.”
A judge dismissed charges against another officer for actions during the protests, ruling that prosecutors had failed to provide evidence that Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna’s use of a baton constituted a crime. Krasner re-filed charges against him however.
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