Erika Martinez/Insider
- Police bodycam video shows Derrick Palmer, the vice president of the Amazon Labor Union, admitting to strangling his girlfriend.
- If convicted, he could face the possibility of being barred from serving as a union officer.
- The criminal case comes amid tumult and disputes within the union about its leadership.
The second-highest-ranking official in the Amazon Labor Union is facing felony charges over claims that he strangled his girlfriend last year, according to police records and body-cam video obtained by Insider.
Derrick Palmer, the union's vice president, was indicted in New Jersey in October on two counts of second-degree aggravated assault, according to previously unreported court documents from Union County Superior Court. The indictment accused him of strangling a domestic partner twice in the same evening in early May 2022.
If convicted, Palmer could be barred from union leadership roles under a 1959 federal law that prevents people convicted of certain violent offenses from serving as union officers for up to 13 years, though it's not clear whether that law will apply — or be enforced — in this specific scenario.
The charges against Palmer are the latest potentially damaging revelation about the leadership of the Amazon Labor Union, the only union to successfully organize an Amazon facility. The grassroots labor organization won a landmark vote at a Staten Island warehouse last year, vaulting Palmer and union president Chris Smalls to national fame.
Their unlikely victory over a company that has spent tens of millions of dollars on union-busting activities landed the "two best friends" on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of 2022, with a profile written by Bernie Sanders.
But in recent months, cracks have begun to appear in the duo's image.
Last month, Insider reported that Smalls had been caught on video fighting an Amazon employee outside the Staten Island warehouse. The video also showed Palmer restraining the employee as Smalls hit him. Smalls was arrested last year on assault allegations unrelated to the fight outside the warehouse and taken to court over some $20,000 in overdue child support, which he eventually paid. Some core union members are questioning Smalls' leadership, saying he seems more focused on fame than a union contract.
Insider's reporting also raised questions about how the union spent the more than $400,000 it raised on GoFundMe, more than half of which is not accounted for in the union's required financial disclosures. Smalls previously declined to comment to Insider on the record regarding his arrest and late child support payments, and said his fight outside the warehouse "isn't news for the public."
Palmer, who continues to work at Amazon's Staten Island fulfillment center, has a lower profile than Smalls. But Palmer, Smalls, and two other early Amazon Labor Union supporters launched a nonprofit that aims to start labor organizing workers at companies other than Amazon, according to an interview with one of its founders and the nonprofit's incorporating documents.
Seth Wenig/AP
When reached via email by Insider for comment on the charges against Palmer, Smalls responded: "Listen I'm so sick of your racism stop contacting me about nonsense." He added, "Stop attacking Black leaders because you have nothing better to write about for Christ sake and leave me the fuck alone."
Palmer's attorney, Pamela Brause, declined to comment. Palmer did not respond to questions.
Bodycam footage from a late-night domestic disturbance call
At about 1:30 a.m on May 4, 2022, police were called to an apartment complex in Elizabeth, New Jersey where Palmer lived with his girlfriend. Body camera footage obtained by Insider shows four officers entering a unit with broken glass on the floor and overturned furniture. Yelling can be heard in the background.
The video shows the officers encountering Palmer and his girlfriend arguing in a bedroom, at which point they separate them. Insider is not naming the woman because she is alleged to be a victim of domestic violence. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In the video, Palmer told the officers that his girlfriend pushed him, threw glass items at him, and kicked in the bedroom door during the course of their fight.
The woman told the officers that Palmer had repeatedly assaulted her. "He's constantly putting his hands on me, God as my witness," she said. "He grabs my neck sometimes, he pushes me to the fucking wall, I'm not even joking. He punches on me, like, this is not a joke."
On that night, she said, Palmer had strangled her for "a good 10 seconds," causing her to wave her arms to indicate that she couldn't breathe. She said she didn't pass out, but later told investigators she felt "dizzy" and "lightheaded."
The video shows Palmer acknowledging that he choked and pushed his girlfriend.
"Did you choke her? Did you push her back?" one officer asked.
"I did, I'm not gonna lie," Palmer replied. "But it's like yo, why you hitting me? Why you throwing stuff at me?"
On the body camera footage, police can be heard saying they didn't see marks on Palmer's girlfriend's neck. Their written report, however, says "red welts" eventually developed on her neck, and police took three photos of the marks. The city of Elizabeth refused to provide the photos to Insider, citing state law barring the release of investigative records.
Palmer was arrested shortly thereafter. The video doesn't show him being advised of his right to remain silent, which could render his statements inadmissible. His attorneys, in court papers, have indicated that they may raise that as an issue.
Robin L Marshall/Getty Images
Prosecutors take strangulation seriously in New Jersey, said Andrew Olesnycky, a defense lawyer who previously supervised domestic violence cases as a Union County prosecutor. He noted that in 2021, the state made strangulation punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
"Strangulation has been identified as one of the greatest red flags of future serious harm, up to and including homicide," said Olesnycky, who clarified that he was speaking generally and not about the case against Palmer.
Federal law may prevent Palmer from leading the ALU
Prosecutors have offered Palmer a plea deal, according to court documents. If he accepts prosecutors' bargain, Palmer would plead guilty to third-degree aggravated assault with a domestic violence surcharge, spend up to 364 days in a Union County jail, and agree to attend a diversion program for perpetrators of domestic assault.
But the case might not end there for Palmer.
A 1959 law, passed amid a backlash to organized labor's rising influence, bars people who have been convicted of a range of criminal offenses from serving as a union officer. Among the criminal convictions that can result in union officers being removed from their roles are "assault which inflicts grievous bodily injury" and "assault with intent to kill."
It's not clear whether the initial charges against Palmer or the plea offer meet either of those standards. The Office of Labor-Management Standards, an agency within the Department of Labor, determines whether a criminal conviction meets the standards laid out in the law for the removal of a union officer. That ruling can also be appealed.
It is "really rare" for union officers to be removed due to an assault conviction, said John Logan, a professor at San Francisco State University's school of labor and employment studies. Historically, union officers removed under the law have been convicted of fraud, embezzlement, or extortion, Logan said.
If Palmer is convicted, and the government deems him ineligible for union leadership, it's not clear who could take his place. According to the ALU's constitution, board vacancies "shall be filled by appointment by the President," who is Smalls.
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