Supermarket clerk accused of assault by Rudy Giuliani sues for defamation

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who spent a night in jail for punching Rudy Giuliani in the back and calling him “trash” is suing him and several New York City police officers for false arrest and defamation.

Daniel Gill filed the federal lawsuit in Manhattan court on Wednesday, accusing Giuliani of weaving a story of political violence out of a harmless act of mockery. He says members of the NYPD went along with the hoax even though the video clearly discredited the account.

The lawsuit is the second filed this week against Giuliani. On Monday, a woman who said she previously worked for Giuliani filed a lawsuit in New York accusing him of forcing her to have sex and withholding nearly $2 million in unpaid wages. Giuliani “vehemently” denied the allegations through a spokesman.

Giuliani made headlines last June after claiming he was attacked by a supermarket clerk on Staten Island during a campaign stop for his son, Andrew, who was running for governor of New York.

He said an angry man accused him of wanting to kill women and then hit him on the back so hard it felt “like someone had shot me.” Gill, who had no criminal record, was arrested on felony assault charges.

Surveillance video of the incident soon appeared to undermine Giuliani’s story. It showed Gill briskly walking past Giuliani and tapping him on the back with an open palm. Giuliani did not seem fazed by the incident.

Body camera footage obtained by Gill’s attorney also shows Giuliani acknowledging to officers that he did not suffer any injuries. He urged them to make an arrest anyway, citing his own experience as a former New York City mayor.

“I need a police car to handcuff him and arrest him and put him in jail, which is what I would have done if I were mayor, and that’s why there was no crime when I was mayor, and that’s why we were. We are now one of the most crime-ridden cities in America,” Giuliani said, as he sat in the back of a campaign van.

“The next guy I hit may not be as big and healthy as me, and it may knock him to the ground and kill him,” he continued.

Gill spent 21 hours in jail after his arrest. The charges were later downgraded to a misdemeanor and ultimately dismissed.

Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s communications adviser, said the lawsuit should be dismissed because police made their own decision to arrest Gill.

“An unbiased observer will see this meritless complaint as absurd, with its bizarre political hyperbole, such as in paragraph 22 when counsel found it (necessary) to refer to the specific area of ​​Staten Island as a ‘stronghold of white conservatism and Trump support,’ ‘” Goodman said in a statement.

A lawyer for Gill, Ron Kuby, said his client faced a barrage of death threats after the incident and lost his job of many years at the supermarket.

“Giuliani’s ability to hit, to attack poor or working-class people, is amazing,” Kuby said. “He’s just a thug.”

The lawsuit demands $2 million in damages. In addition to Giuliani, he names four members of the NYPD and New York City.

An NYPD spokesman deferred comment to the city’s Legal Department, which said it will review the case.