CLARKSTOWN - A pending $300,000 settlement of a federal lawsuit has been reached between the town and an African-American community group that claimed a police unit profiled its members for putting on a fundraising play about a police officer being shot.

The settlement — made by the town's insurance company without town support and needing the judge's approval — will provide 15 members of We The People with $20,000 each, with the group and its lawyer donating $20,000 to the Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center in Spring Valley, said attorney William Wagstaff, who represents the group.

The settlement includes the agreement of no admission of guilt or liability by the town and others named in the federal legal action, according to the settlement filed Monday with the U.S. District Court in White Plains.

The settlement — signed by attorneys for the town and We the People — came before any motions seeking dismissal of the case or all those involved had been deposed prior to a trial. Judge Nelson Roman needs to approve the settlement.

Settlement agreement between Clarkstown and others with We the People

Federal lawsuit targets race, Clarkstown, Chief Sullivan, special unit

Wagstaff said the settlement vindicates his clients' rights to assembly, speech and to be free of surveillance for exercising their constitutional rights.

We the People and its members claim police surveillance stemmed from its staging in 2015 of a play called "A Clean Shoot," which was about a white police officer shooting a black off-duty police officer. Investigators with the unit have said the word "Shoot" came up in a search, alerting them.

They say the unit doesn't conduct criminal surveillance but searches public social media sites to ensure groups aren't being threatened or to learn about potential crimes.

"From the outset everyone was outraged and looking for an opportunity to have a message sent to Clarkstown and other municipalities this will not be tolerated," Wagstaff said Monday. "We believe this is a great victory for their rights."

Wagstaff said the group will donate $12,500 to the King center, the original recipient of the fundraising play, and he will donate $7,500 of his fee to the center, which provides programs for children and residents.

Clarkstown Town Attorney Lino Sciarretta said the town's insurer settled the case based on its financial assessment and came up with the $300,000 settlement figure. The town had no input into the decision, he said.

"We didn't want to settle," Sciarretta said. "Travelers evaluated this case, they negotiated this lawsuit and settled without the town's consent."

The Special Investigations Unit's report on We the People was made public by Clarkstown Supervisor George Hohemann's administration as part of legal action and disciplinary charges against suspended Police Chief Michael Sullivan and Detective Sgt. Stephen Cole-Hatchard, who led the unit and has since retired after being suspended by the department and removed from the unit.

Cole-Hatchard and Sullivan have lawsuits against the town.

Sullivan and his lawyer have countered with testimony by experts at the chief's disciplinary hearing, insisting the SIU review of We the People didn't violate anyone's constitutional rights and was non-invasive. The unit claims it reviewed social media based on keywords that might indicate people or groups were being targeted for violence or planned to commit violence.

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READ THE LAWSUIT HERE

Hoehmann's administration reviewed emails sent out by the police department and town personnel after he took office in January 2016.

Sullivan, who is running as a Democrat for supervisor against Hoehmann in November, accused the Republican supervisor of having his staff search out and release confidential police department reports and emails to the media. We the People's lawsuit is based primarily on the released report, which has been used against Sullivan during a disciplinary hearing that could eventually lead to the chief's dismissal.

Sullivan and his lawyer claim Hoehmann went after Sullivan to stymie a review of fired Clarkstown Police Sgt. Michael Garvey's donation through the Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino's Reform Party for Hoehmann's 2015 political campaign and for the Republican Party. Hoehmann has denied that charge.

Garvey has filed a lawsuit to be reinstated, potentially to reach 20 years on the police force. Sullivan recommended his dismissal.

"This lawsuit was a direct result of George Hoehmann’s actions, not mine," Sullivan said in a statement on Monday.

Sullivan said former Rockland County District Attorney's Office Chief of Detectives Peter Modiferri, a nationally renowned expert in the field of intelligence and investigations, testified at "my disciplinary hearing that he himself was the supervisor of the unit that prepared this report and that nothing improper was done."

Sullivan also noted that attorney John Wilson, a former Justice Department lawyer for 30 years, testified that there was a "legitimate law enforcement in preparing the report and there was no violations of anyone's constitutional or privacy rights."

Sullivan's attorney, Richard Glickel, said he believes Wilson's testimony at the chief's disciplinary hearing spurred We the People's willingness to accept the settlement. Sullivan said Wilson also stated he thought the only potential privacy rights violations might have been leaking the confidential report to the press.

Hoehmann's confidential assistant, Vincent Balascio, referred questions to the town attorney.

Glickel has said We the People learned about the SIU police report in August 2016 on social media, a year after the report had been prepared. He said the information first came off the police department computers by Hoehmann and then published in the media after the town's special prosecutor provided an interview to a New York City television station.

Sullivan has been suspended from his $270,000-a-year job since July 2016 over a host of charges, including condoning illegal surveillance operations.

The lawsuit claimed that surveillance of the group occurred despite the lack of evidence that any member had engaged in criminal activity, violence or posed a threat to public safety. Indeed, the intelligence report determined there was no reason to believe a "A Clean Shoot" was going to become violent, the lawsuit states.

"As a group, we were judged and racially profiled," Sabrina Charles-Pierre, a member of We the People and a plaintiff, said at the time of the lawsuit. She's also an East Ramapo Board of Education member.

"Our goal and focus as a group is the children and making change in our community by holding and sponsoring different events so that we can all come together to engage in something positive," she said. "What was done was wrong and it's sad to see that, in this day and age, how history really repeats itself."

Twitter: @lohudlegal