Demonstrators gather in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., on Monday to protest the death of George Floyd.(AP Photo: Alex BrandonBlack Lives Matter D.C. and other protesters on Thursday sued President Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and other federal officials for allegedly violating their first First and Fourth Amendment rights.
The complaint centers on a Monday protest in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park, which was broken up by federal law enforcement with tear gas and pepper spray and has been the subject of numerous media reports. After the crowd was dispersed, the president walked through Lafayette Park to take a picture in front of St. John’s Church, holding a bible.
Several organizations brought the suit on behalf of the protesters, including Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the law firm of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. The Thursday lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“This is a very dramatic example in how rights enshrined in the First Amendment are all under challenge,” said Arnold & Porter senior counsel John Freedman, who is representing the plaintiffs pro bono. “These are protesters who were engaged in nonviolent, peaceful protest and senior government officials ordered that they be assaulted.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The plaintiffs included Black Lives Matter D.C., which organized the demonstrations, and four protesters—all of whom allegedly suffered injuries or trauma as a result of law enforcement action.
All of the plaintiffs were at the June 1demonstration at Lafayette Square when, according to the complaint, Barr gave an order to clear the square. Law enforcement ”rushed and attacked the assembled protesters without warning or provocation, climbing and jumping over barriers behind which the demonstrators were standing,” the suit claims.
The plaintiffs allege that Barr’s order—which came just before the president gave a 6:30 p.m. speech in the White House Rose Garden—violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly and Fourth Amendment right of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs were not given prior warning, nor did law enforcement ask the demonstrators to leave before they escalated. Law enforcement officers fired flash-bang shells, tear gas, smoke canisters and rubber bullets into the crowd, the complaint said, and assaulted demonstrators with “fists, feet, batons and shields.”
The complaint details graphic accounts of the protest, including a rubber bullet lodged in a victim’s face and multiple bruises allegedly inflicted on plaintiffs by law enforcement.
By the morning of June 3, federal law enforcement officers blocked access to Lafayette Square, preventing future demonstrators from protesting in the space, the complaint said.
The plaintiffs allege that the violence Monday chilled demonstrators from exercising their right to protest. Black Lives Matter D.C. did not attend demonstrations the following day, fearing harm at the hands of law enforcement, the complaint said, adding that the violence led to a significant reduction in the number of demonstrators Tuesday.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that Black Lives Matter D.C. faces the imminent harm of diverting resources to protect its members’ and supporters’ ability to engage in free speech and assembly. “Its effectiveness as a political entity will also be irreparably harmed by its inability to generate participation in protest events, because potential participants will have been deterred from participating,” the suit claims.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to rule the dispersal a violation of the First and Fourth Amendment and that the judge issue an injunction ordering the defendants to cease similar actions in the future. The attorneys are also asking for compensatory and punitive damages.
"use" - Google News
June 05, 2020 at 05:44AM
https://ift.tt/2MxOcnr
Trump, Barr Sued for Use of Force Against Lafayette Square Demonstrators | National Law Journal - Law.com
"use" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2P05tHQ
https://ift.tt/2YCP29R
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Trump, Barr Sued for Use of Force Against Lafayette Square Demonstrators | National Law Journal - Law.com"
Post a Comment