NYPD Officer Sues to Recover Lost Pay for Donning Trump Patch
(Newsmax/"Wake Up America Weekend")
By Luca Cacciatore | Wednesday, 25 January 2023 10:14 PM EST
New York Police Department Sgt. Dana Martillo, who was disciplined for wearing a patch in favor of former President Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit Tuesday to recover back pay.
The suit, obtained by the New York Post, came after the NYPD suspended Martillo for 10 days and docked an additional 30 days of vacation due to her wearing a "Trump Make Enforcement Great Again 2020" patch last year on duty.
In the administrative trial in which which she was found guilty, it was revealed that Martillo wore another patch featuring a Punisher skull logo with Trump's signature hairstyle, a symbol popular with the militia group Three Percenters.
Martillo has argued that the investigation against her, which led to 40 days of lost pay, was "very biased and politically motivated," with the charges and determination being "completely bogus and premised upon false facts."
Martillo was shocked by "the level of dishonesty, political bias, and bad faith that would so infect this entire administrative disciplinary process, due to the total control" New York City Mayor Eric Adams has over the NYPD, the filing read.
"The 'Kangaroo court' in which [she] was forced to mount her defense to these trumped-up charges" also was startling to Martillo.
The police officer said she wore the patch during Trump's time outside of office and as a civilian, noting his visit to the NYPD's 17th Precinct.
She said that no political expression was intended by the badges she wore Feb. 5, 2021.
The filing claims the judge who oversaw the trial is biased. Martillo further claims that the only witness against her lied and that she was barred unfairly from presenting favorable evidence by a polygraph expert.