An 18-year-old from New Jersey was shocked when she received a $2,500 bill from Englewood Cliffs for police overtime for a Black Lives Matter protest she organized. Emily Gil wanted to raise awareness about the lack of affordable housing in her hometown and reached out to local officials about any rules regarding protests.
Authorities wanted to meet with Gil in person, but she suggested chatting over Zoom because of the coronavirus pandemic. The borough's clerk and mayor continued to press Gil to meet in person, but the meeting was never arranged.
On July 25, 30-40 protesters showed up outside of the town's administrative building and held a peaceful protest. There were police officers present before the rally began, but once people started showing up, they went back inside the building.
Three days after the rally, Gil received the bill.
"Please promptly forward your payment to the borough in the amount of $2,499.26 for the police overtime caused by your protest," Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac wrote in a letter.
She felt it wasn't fair because she didn't ask for police presence at the rally.
"[Kranjac] sort of imposed a police presence on the protest," she said. "He said, 'So now that you've alerted me that this is going on, I'm going to have to send the police to you.' So it wasn't something that I specifically requested. It was something that he imposed on me."
After news of the hefty bill went viral, local officials decided to rescind the charges.
"I have researched the issue further with my own counsel, and I am hereby rescinding the bill, subject to our Council's ratification of my action," Kranjac wrote in an email to Gil. "I always want to make certain that everyone's Constitutional Rights are fully respected. We will adjust the Borough's ordinances accordingly."
While Gil is relieved she's not on the hook for the police overtime, she was upset that Kranjac didn't apologize and tried to pass the blame for sending her the bill.
"He didn't apologize ... he also tried to excuse what he did by saying it was the advice of the borough administrator that led him to give me a fee," Gil said. "That led him to give me a fee. And I'm feeling like that doesn't make any sense. Because what he sent me wasn't even an official fine or a fee. It was just a letter."
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