Abner Louima

Abner Louima (born 1966 in Thomassin, Haiti) is a Haitian man who was assaulted, brutalized, and sexually abused in 1997 by officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) after he was arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub. His injuries were so severe as to require three major surgeries. At first the police attempted to cover up the attack. Officers responsible for the attack were charged and convicted in federal court, and one is still in federal prison serving a 30-year sentence. In 2001, Louima received an $8.75 million settlement in his civil suit against the city for police brutality, the largest civil settlement to that time for such abuse. He has set up the Abner Louima Foundation to establish a hospitals and community centers in Haiti, and in Florida and New York for Haitian immigrants and others in need.