Wrongful arrest lawsuit: Maria Campanelli, of Centereach, files $60M lawsuit seeking damages after being arrested at Nassau Legislative meeting last year

Police officers assaulted and arrested the wrong suspect while responding to a report of an unruly person at a Nassau County legislature hearing on the Mask Transparency Act last year, a federal lawsuit seeking $60 millions in damages argues.

Maria Campanelli, 27, of Centereach, suffered a traumatic brain injury, bruising, emotional distress and other damages after being "manhandled" by Nassau officers at the Aug. 5, 2024, legislative meeting in Mineola, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Central Islip.

The officers felt empowered to treat Campanelli, 27, in a rough fashion, the court papers said, because they are gender-neutral and nonbinary. The lawsuit alleges that Nassau police violated Campanielli’s constitutional rights and New York State law.

"There was no reason for them to engage with this person," said Campanelli’s attorney, Fred Brewington of Hempstead. "They filed a lawsuit to vindicate the rights which should have been protected by Nassau police, especially in the legislative chamber of the people."

Campanelli was charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. The second-degree assault charge has been dismissed and Campanelli now faces a third-degree assault charge. Brewington said he hopes to get the charges dismissed. Campanelli is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 5.

"These charges and the pursuit of these charges are a violation in and of themselves, as was the excessive force used against a law-abiding person," Brewington said.

The lawsuit, which seeks $60 million in compulsory and punitive damages, names Nassau County, its police department and Officer Paul Simonetti and other officers as defendants.

A spokeswoman for Nassau police, Tracey Cabey, declined to comment, saying she could not discuss pending litigation. Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the complaint, Campanelli attended the public legislative meeting to comment on the Mask Transparency Act, which made it illegal to wear a mask in public to hide one’s identity. Lawmakers approved the bill, which includes exemptions for health reasons as well as religious and celebratory purposes, at the Aug. 5, 2024, meeting.

Blakeman signed an executive order in July that authorizes law-enforcement officials to cover their faces after masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted immigration sweeps on Long Island, part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.

Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Howard Kopel had asked officers to remove an unruly speaker at the hearing. Campanelli did not engage in disruptive behavior during the meeting, according to the lawsuit.

Campanelli stood up to exit the hearing room after a recess was called when she was approached by Simonetti, who demanded that they sit down. When Campanelli asked why they needed to take a seat, Simonetti responded by "forcefully, aggressively, unnecessarily and forcibly" seizing her body and pushing her to the ground. Simonetti and other officers picked up Campanelli and dragged her out of the meeting.

"The defendants proceeded to suspect plaintiff as the ‘unruly speaker’ without clarifying with the legislature (sic) who requested the removal as to who was the ‘unruly speaker’ in question," the complaint said.

A police narrative, according to the court papers, falsely claimed that Campanelli placed herself between officers and the person who allegedly disrupted the meeting and was requested to be removed. Campanelli does not have any association with that person, identified in the police narrative as "Kiana," the lawsuit said.

The complaint suggests Simonetti and other officers may have believed Campanelli was the person Kopel wanted removed.

 "There was no reason or rationale to abuse plaintiff verbally and to exert physical force and seize plaintiff without speaking with the plaintiff to reason through and fairly address that she was lawfully exiting the building and in fact was not the ‘unruly’ speaker defendant officers were requested to look for and remove from the legislative building," the complaint said.

The police narrative also falsely said Campanelli stuck out her leg and tripped Simonetti, according to the lawsuit. At the time of the incident, Nassau police said an officer injured his wrist and knees.

Nassau County and its police department, the lawsuit said, have a history of tolerating illegal force and abuse of authority by officers. Officers accused of misconduct are rarely subjected to serious investigations or discipline, it said. The defendants, it added, have not responded to requests for the names of some of the officers involved in the incident.