Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday applauded New York Attorney General Letitia James after she filed a federal lawsuit that argues city police used excessive force during racial-justice protests last year. 

The Democratic state attorney general said the New York City Police Department used brutal force against peaceful demonstrators who had taken to the streets to protest the deaths of unarmed Black Americans at the hands of police. The police response, James said, tied into a long-running pattern of abuse from the NYPD that sprung from a failure to properly train and discipline officers.