FILED : BRONX COUNTY CLERK 10/05/2015 02:38 PM INDEX NO . 24973 / 2015E

NYSCEF DOC . NO 36 RECEIVED NYSCEF : 10/05/2015

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATEOFNEW YORK COUNTY OF BRONX

EFRAIN GALICIA , FLORENCIA TEJEDA PEREZ , IndexNo.24973/15 GONZALO CRUZ FRANCO , JOHNNY GARCIA &

MIGUEL VILLALOBOS , .. AFFIDAVIT OF : KEITH SCHILLER Plaintiffs

-against

DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMPFOR PRESIDENT, INC. , THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION LLC , KEITH SCHILLER and JOHN DOES 1-4,

Defendants ..

STATEOFNEW YORK } } : COUNTY OF NEW YORK }

KEITH SCHILLER, beingduly sworn, states as follows:

1 I have been the Director of Security for TrumpOrganization since 2004. I am a

retired detective with the New York City Police Departmentwhere I worked for nearly 12 years ,

including serving on the New York /New Jersey Drug Task Force and theNYPD StrikeForce. I

am also a veteran of the United StatesNavy.

2 . Asthe Director of Security, I am responsible for, amongother things, overseeing

security and safety at various Trump Organization properties, including Trump Tower located at

725 Fifth Avenue between East Streetand East57th Street in Manhattan.

3 . Trump Tower is a 68-story mixed use building comprised of office , retail, and

residentialunits. The ground floorofthebuilding centers around the Trump Tower Atrium , which

is zoned by the City of New York as a “ Privately Public Space, ” meaning it is an area

created to provide the public with an open, inviting, accessible , and safe oasis in a high -density

mattmaron opposition papersschilleraffrevised 10-2.docx commercial district. Trump Tower maintainsthis space and provides security. A passageway leading to Niketown and two landscaped outdoor terraces located on the fourth and fifth floors are also designated“ Privately Public Spaces.

4 . The ground floor of Trump Tower is comprised of restaurants and retail stores. The first 26 floorsofthebuildingconsistof commercialofficesand floors 30 through68arecomprised ofresidentialcondominium units. The corporateoffices for TrumpOrganization are located in the building, as is the set for the “ The Apprentice ” television show .

5 . Trump Tower is one of the most heavily visited buildings in New York City , drawing tourists , visitors to the public Atrium , customers to the retail stores, and business and residentialinvitees.

6 . Moreover , Trump Tower is located on one of the most famous sections of Fifth

Avenue, which is also home to Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, and Bergdorf Goodman, among other notable flagship stores. The public entrance to Trump Tower is situated in the middle of the block between East 56th Street and East 57th Street, with the entrance to Gucciimmediately to its south and the entrance to Tiffany & Co. immediately to its north. Accordingly , there is a constant stream of heavy pedestrian foot traffic from residents, shoppers, the area workforce, and tourists along this block of Fifth Avenue .

7 Trump Tower responsible for maintaining the sidewalk in front of the building in a safe condition ,meaning that pedestrians must be able to safely walk north and south on the sidewalk between East 56th Street and East 57th Street. People exiting from taxicabs and other vehicles on Fifth Avenue— which is an extremely common occurrence in front of the public entrance to thebuilding also be able to safely exit onto the sidewalk and enter the building.

Trump Tower also ownsandmaintainscementplanterswhich are located on the sidewalk in front

2 of the buildingrunning parallel to Fifth Avenue. The planters were placed there for aesthetic and security purposes, with pathways left so that persons exiting vehicles on Fifth Avenue can safely access the sidewalk.

8 . As Director of Security my job responsibilities include overseeing and coordinating security and safety Trump Tower, a challenging task given the number ofpeople coming in and outofthebuildingeachday to visitresidents, shop, conductbusiness, attendevents, or just relax in the public Atrium . I have handled building safety concerns associated with countless demonstrations held on the sidewalk area outside of Trump Tower duringmymore than

16 years of employment. SinceMr. Trumpdeclared that hewas a candidate for Presidentofthe

United States, demonstrationsin frontof the buildinghavebeen held on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis. These demonstrationsare often crowded, boisterous, and typically involve people expressing their viewswith signsofallshapesand sizes. Nevertheless, these demonstrations with the exception of the demonstration by the plaintiffs in this matter — have respected Trump

Tower's property, kept the sidewalks and access between the sidewalk and the street clear and safe, andhaveotherwise proceededwithoutincident.

9 . I understand that plaintiffs admit that they participated in the demonstrations held on the public sidewalk in front of Trump Tower prior to September 3, 2015. During each ofthem , plaintiffs and hundreds of others appeared with dozens and dozens of signs and demonstrated for several hours in front of the building. I understand that plaintiffs concede that there was no sign taking by, or altercation with the Trump security team on either of those dates. As a number of demonstrations were held in frontof the building prior to September 3rd, it is possible that allor some of the plaintiffs may have also participated in those events without incident.

3 10 On September 3, 2015, plaintiffs returned to demonstrate in front TrumpTower.

Shortly after the demonstration began , I and other members ofmy security team performed a routine outside inspection to make sure that the sidewalk in front of the building was not obstructed , that pedestrians could freely walk on the sidewalk , and persons exiting from vehicles on Fifth Avenue could reachthe sidewalk in frontof the building.

11. During that walk -through, observed that plaintiffs had at least three extremely large painted cardboard signs, approximately eight feet long and three feet tall, which they were leaning up against the concrete planters. These signs, which were placedby theplaintiffs parallel to Fifth Avenue, when combined with the demonstrators (who were also leaningand sitting on planters), were essentially forming a barricade along the length of the sidewalk directly in front of thepublic entrance to the building, preventingpeople from safely accessing the sidewalk after exiting vehicles on the street. On two separate occasions, I politely asked the demonstrators to move the signs from the planters and asked them not to block the sidewalk so that people could reach it from the street.

12 Although there were dozens of other signs at the demonstration , including countless signs with the word “ Racist” on them , I never requested that any of these signs bemoved as they were being hand-held by the demonstrators and were not blocking safe passageway on the sidewalk forpedestriansand persons exiting vehiclesonFifth Avenue in frontofthebuilding. See the photographs collectively annexed as Exhibit J to the Affirmation of Lawrence S. Rosen, affirmed on October 2 , 2015 ( Rosen Aff

13. Following that initial walk -through of the sidewalk area , I returned to my office inside of Trump Tower. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from the Fire Safety Officer of the building advisingmethat a crowd in frontofthe public entrance of the building was growing and

4 in danger of becoming unruly. I immediately contacted the Police Department at that time and notified them ofthe situation that wasdeveloping directly outside ofthe building.

14 I then wentback outside to the front of the buildingto survey the situationmyself.

I immediately observed severalpersonsangrily confronting the demonstrators— someof whom were now dressed in Ku Klux Klan costumes — including a black male who was demanding that oneofthe protestorsremove the hood ofhisKuKluxKlan outfit, and also a Latinomale who was loudly arguingwith one of the demonstrators. See the photographsannexed as Exhibits E and F to theRosen Aff

15 . I also noticed that two of the eight foot by three foot signs that I previously asked thedemonstrators to move from theplanters were still leaningagainstthe planters. The two signs positioned next to one another by the plaintiffs had formed a sixteen foot barricadethat was preventing personsfrom exiting vehicles on Fifth Avenue from accessing the sidewalk in front of the public entrance to the building. See the photograph annexed as Exhibit C to the Rosen Aff.

16 . Because my previoustwo requests of the plaintiffsto move the signs off of the planters had been disregarded, I hastily seized the two barricade signs, folded them up, and began walkingback toward the entrance to Trump Tower. Atthat point, I felt someone physically grab me from behind and also felt that person's hand on my firearm , which was strapped on the right side ofmy rib cage in a body holster. Based on my years of training, I instinctively reacted by turning around in onemovementand striking the person with my open hand. Based upon the videosI havesince viewed, I now know that the personwho attackedmewhilemybackwas turned wasplaintiff Efrain Galicia. See thevideo labeled Exhibit G to the Rosen Aff In order to diffuse the situation and not escalate it further, I did not engage Mr.Galicia and instead continued walking

The video isalso accessibleby followingthe link : https://twitter.com/NY /status/639584685161586688?lang= en

5 into the building. Had Mr.Galicia not grabbedme from behind and (even if inadvertently) not reached formy holster, I never would have reacted the way that I did and he would nothave been struck . I had removed the two signs that were blocking the sidewalk and was walking back into

the building. I simply defended myself after I was grabbed from behind.

17. Followingthis incident, I debriefedwith allof themembers ofmy security team that were present that day. Thereafter, other than my team politely instructing certain of the demonstratorsto keep the clearbetween the street and the sidewalk, they had little, ifany, other interactionswith any ofthe demonstrators and therewere certainly no otherincidents. Other

than thetwo signsthathad formed a sixteen foot barricadeonthe sidewalk, noneof the countless other signsthat were being held by the hundreds of demonstrators — which again were labelled with many inflammatory and provocativemessages callingMr. Trump a “ Racist removed or disturbed by Trump security in any way . See the photographs collectively annexed as Exhibit

J to the Rosen Aff. In fact, a third sign of the exactsamesizeofthe twothat I had confiscated, was held aloft by theprotestors, someofwhom were dressed in KluKluxKlan costumes. See the photograph annexed as Exhibit C to the Rosen Aff. Wedid not confiscate thatsign because it was not used to block the sidewalk and wasbeing held up in the air by the plaintiffs. Wewere absolutely respectfulof the demonstrators' rightto voicetheir opinions in frontof ourbuilding despite the substantial number of the protestors and their Ku Klux Klan outfits and “ Racist” signs— and allwe asked of them was that they maintain the sidewalk area in a safemanner and not block pedestrian access . The fact that the hundreds of demonstrators , including plaintiffs and

their colleagues dressed in KuKlux Klan outfits, continued demonstrating untilapproximately 8 p.m. that night, waving their signs aloft, marching, arguing, yelling through cardboard

6 megaphones, and banging drums, speaks to the respect given to their rightto protest by us. See

the photograph annexed as Exhibit K to the Rosen Aff

18. Since the September 3rd demonstration , there have been numerous other demonstrations at the building that have occurredwithoutincident or any alleged “ sign -taking” or purported“ assaults.” Notably, given the frequencyof the demonstrations, theNYPD has placed crowd control barriers in front of the building that strike a fair balance between the right of the protestersto peacefully assemble, and the rights (and obligations) of building employees and occupants, and pedestrians walking along Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower . When

demonstrations occur, these barriers are deliberately set up by the police on the sidewalk perpendicularto Fifth Avenue to allow safe pathwaysfor personsexiting vehicleson Fifth Avenue to access the sidewalk , which is precisely and the only reason why I removed the signs leaning up againstthe planters at the September 3rd demonstration . See the photograph annexed as Exhibit

N to the Rosen Aff

KEITH SCHILLER

Sworn to beforeme this 2nd day of October, 2015.

na

NOTARY PUBLIC

MATTHEW R.MARON NotaryPublic, State ofNew York Qualified in WestchesterCounty Certificate Filed in New York County No. CommissionExpiresMarch6 , 2018

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