Man charged with assault for tapping Giuliani on the back signals potential $2m lawsuit for false arrest

Alex Woodward
·2 min read
Rudy Giuliani meets the press in Atlanta, Georgia (EPA)

A man charged with assault and jailed for more than 24 hours in June for touching Rudy Giuliani’s back in a Staten Island supermarket has signalled a potential lawsuit against New York City for $2m for his false arrest.

Video captured Daniel Gill, then an employee of the store, touching Mr Giuliani on the back with his hand inside a ShopRite market while the former mayor and Donald Trump attorney was supporting his son Andrew’s unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for governor.

“What’s up, scumbag?” Mr Gill said, according to a notice of a claim that was filed on 22 September.

Mr Giuliani does not appear to react in the video, which shows Mr Gill walking quickly past Mr Giulaini and patting his back, as Mr Giuliani wobbles forward slightly.

The former mayor later claimed that he felt as if “somebody shot me” or that he was hit by a boulder and demanded that Mr Gill be imprisoned.

He accused Mr Gill of yelling “dirty curse words” at him and accused him of being a “lady killer” in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion care.

“I believe you let Mr Gill go, a lot more of these crazy pro-choice people are going to start attacking people,” he said on a Facebook Live video in June addressing the incident.

Mr Gill was initially charged with a felony before video footage contradicted Mr Giuliani and police accounts. The charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.

He was initially jailed for more than 24 hours and lost his job at the market as a result of his arrest and the surrounding publicity, according to the notice of claim.

He accepted a deal on 21 September that would dismiss the charges against him if he remains on good behaviour.

The filing, which signals a potential lawsuit, alleges several claims, including false arrest, infliction of emotional distress and unlawful search and seizure.

Mr Giuliani is not named in the filing, as he is not a city employee and the city is “mercifully no longer responsible for his misconduct.”

“I expressed my opinion,” Mr Gill told The New York Daily News. “I think 90 per cent of the people who saw Rudy Giuliani would have the desire to call Rudy Giuliani a scumbag. ... I have no regrets.”

The Independent has requested comment from Mr Giuliani.

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