Inundated with lawsuits and ongoing trials, the Trump Organization on Wednesday chose to settle with anti-MAGA protesters who were beaten up by corporate security guards outside Trump Tower in 2015 rather than trying to convince a Bronx jury.
After three days of struggling to find jurors who didn’t already have strong feelings about former President Donald Trump and his eponymous company—a difficult undertaking in liberal New York City—defense lawyers at the last minute chose to settle.
Minutes after Justice Andrew Cohen sent potential jurors out to lunch at midday, Trump Organization lawyers approached the protesters who filed the suit and presented them with a stack of papers that they quietly signed.
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A lawyer representing the Trump Organization, Jeffrey Goldman, was overheard telling the judge that everything was golden—and that nearly everyone had finished signing “the agreement.”
Efrain Galicia, the lead plaintiff, signed the paperwork along with Florencia Tejeda Perez, Miguel Villalobos, and Norberto Garcia.
“The parties all agree that the plaintiffs in the action, and all people, have a right to engage in peaceful protest on public sidewalks,” read a joint statement, which was also signed by Trump Organization defense lawyer Alina Habba.
In court, Habba declined to discuss the terms of the settlement. She signed the agreement at 12:32 p.m. Benjamin Dictor, who represents the protesters, said, “The matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.”
In a later statement, Habba added: “Although we were eager to proceed to trial to demonstrate the frivolousness of this case, the parties were ultimately able to come to an amicable resolution. We are very pleased with this outcome and are happy to finally put this matter to rest once and for all.”
The Bronx—a diverse, blue-collar borough known for its no-nonsense street smarts—is famous for the way juries there often reward plaintiffs with outsized awards, especially when punishing corporations and the rich.
As legal writer Victoria Bekiempis recently explained on Twitter, civil rights lawyers have described Bronx jurors’ “Robinhood-ism,” and the way “they take from the rich and give to the rest of us.”
Galicia and fellow protesters showed up outside Trump Tower weeks after Trump announced his presidential run in the summer of 2015. They were angry about his racist comments in which he berated Mexican migrants seeking refuge in the United States as “rapists.” They also sought to draw attention to the potential dangers of Trump’s statements and presidential ambitions, given that he had just been endorsed by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
When they showed up on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower in KKK hoods and large signs–remaining on the public street–Trump corporate security guards attacked them, tackled Galicia, and ripped a sign from his hand.
Although the protesters soon sued the company, the lawsuit was held up while Trump remained in the White House. It wasn’t until this year that damning details came out from a surprise witness in the office upstairs: Michael Cohen, Trump’s then right-hand lawyer, who revealed that the executive had personally ordered his security chief to get rid of the protesters–and later reveled in their abuse.
“Justice was done,” Galicia said walking down the courthouse steps after the agreement was signed.
“And remember, the sidewalk belongs to the people–no matter whose name is on the building,” Dictor added.
