NYCLU Calls for Investigation into Use of Horses by Nassau Police after Iraq Vet Injured at Hofstra Debate

Photo: Bill Perry

The New York Civil Liberties Union today called for an immediate investigation by the Nassau County Police Department into the use of horses by the department’s mounted unit after an Iraq War veteran’s cheekbone was broken by a horse outside the presidential debate Wednesday night at Hofstra University.

Nick Morgan, an Army veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, was outside of the debate hall last night with a group of people engaged in a peaceful demonstration when, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Nassau County police officers used horses to move the group onto the sidewalk. One of the horses kicked Morgan in the head, knocked him unconscious and broke his cheekbone. Other peaceful protesters were also hit by the horses. Morgan was not part of a group that engaged in an act of non-violent civil disobedience that had been coordinated with the Nassau County Police Department and that had concluded.

The directors of the NYCLU’s chapters in Nassau and Suffolk counties were on the scene after monitoring protests throughout the day and both watched as it happened.

“It is shocking that someone who served his country would be treated so disgracefully by the Nassau County Police Department,” said Tara Keenan-Thomson, director of the Nassau County Chapter of the NYCLU. “It is the duty of the police to respect and protect the First Amendment rights of peaceful protestors. We must find out immediately what went wrong.”

The NYCLU is preparing a letter to the department that will call for an investigation into the use of horses by officers as well as a copy of the policy and training materials utilized by the mounted unit.

“It is indeed ironic that the presidential debate – an event that epitomizes American democracy – became the occasion to trample on an American’s First Amendment rights,” said Andrea Callan, director of the NYCLU’s Suffolk County Chapter. “It is our hope that this was a freak incident and not a regular occurrence.”