Fort Lauderdale Cop Sued for Shoving BLM Protester in 2020

Back in May 2020, Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLPD) officer Steven Pohorence was thrust into national spotlight after he was caught on video shoving a Black teenager as she kneeled during a protest over George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police officers earlier that month.

Cellphone video (attached below) showed the white police officer pushing then-19-year-old Jada Servance face-first into the pavement while she kneeled with her hands in the air at the Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Pohorence was charged with misdemeanor battery but acquitted after a jury trial in late 2022.

Now, more than four years after the chaotic protest, Servance is taking Pohorence to court.
In a lawsuit filed in state court on September 19, attorneys for Servance allege that Pohorence "took it upon himself to unprovokedly shove and push Ms. Servance to the ground," resulting in her "being slammed into the street and landing on her shoulder and further injuring her lower back, causing her immediate pain and severe injuries."

Filed against Pohorence and the city of Fort Lauderdale, the complaint (attached at the bottom of this story) seeks a jury trial.

"Ms. Servance was peacefully exercising her right to be a voice for change. A change that would only make our community better in every way," attorney Joseph Madalon wrote in a statement to New Times. "Sadly, while Ms. Servance was kneeling out of respect for the law enforcement and to show she was no threat in any way, an officer violently pushed her to the ground causing an injury so severe that she was required to have surgery."

The city declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Pohorence, who worked for the Florida Highway Patrol before the FLPD hired him in 2016, didn't immediately respond to New Times' request for comment.

On May 31, 2020, amid a national wave of protests against police brutality protests that followed George Floyd's death, thousands took to the streets of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

In downtown Fort Lauderdale, Pohorence and a group of FLPD officers responded to a large demonstration that quickly escalated.

The protest reportedly began peacefully, but police unleashed tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators shortly after Pohorence shoved Servance to the ground, according to the Sun Sentinel. Notably, a rubber bullet from a weapon wielded by FLPD officer Eliezer Ramos struck LaToya Ratlieff in the face, smashing her eye socket and causing permanent nerve damage.

Ratlieff sued Ramos and the city last year. The case is pending in federal court.

While FLPD officers blamed "outside agitators" for the violence, some activists told the Sun Sentinel police instigated the clashes.

As previously reported by New Times, after Pohorence pushed Servance to the ground, FLPD officer Krystle Smith pulled him away from the crowd and admonished him for putting his hands on the protester.

A striking image captured during the protest by Miramar-based photographer Alex Dixon showed Smith reprimanding her colleague.

The newly filed lawsuit claims Pohorence's actions that day weren't to protect himself or anyone else, "much less to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm."

"He did not push a kneeling Plaintiff into the ground to protect property or life," the lawsuit states. "Nor did Pohorence push a kneeling Plaintiff into the ground from any lawful purpose."

As of 2020, Pohorence had amassed at least 14 violent arrests and used force 74 times during his time with the department.

FLPD spokesperson Ali Adamson confirmed to New Times that Pohorence returned to full duty in March of 2023.