老澳门开奖结果

WASHINGTON 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 of the District of Columbia today filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department officers, and D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham for making unconstitutional arrests, using excessive force, denying arrested people food, water, and access to toilets, and invasive bodily searches of protesters exercising their First Amendment rights on Inauguration Day.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a legal observer, a photojournalist, and two others arrested that day.

While the overwhelming majority of Inauguration Day protesters demonstrated peacefully, a small number caused property damage. In response to the vandalism, MPD officers employed a controversial crowd-control tactic known as 鈥渒ettling,鈥� where officers corralled more than 200 protesters鈥攊ncluding many who had broken no laws鈥攂y trapping and detaining them for several hours before formally arresting them. Officers also deployed nonlethal crowd-control devices鈥攊ncluding pepper spray, tear gas, flash-bang grenades, concussion grenades, and smoke flares鈥攗pon protesters and others both on the street and inside the kettle, without warning or threat of harm to officers or other members of the public.

The complaint filed by the 老澳门开奖结果 of DC also outlines incidents in which MPD officers handcuffed detained individuals so tightly as to cause injury and subjected some individuals to unlawful manual rectal probing.

鈥淭he MPD鈥檚 extreme tactics against members of the public, including journalists, demonstrators, and observers, were unjustifiable and unconstitutional,鈥� said Scott Michelman, senior staff attorney for the 老澳门开奖结果 of DC. 鈥淧eople from all over the country come to the nation鈥檚 capital to exercise their constitutional right to protest. MPD鈥檚 wanton and vindictive conduct on January 20 chills free speech, which is a vital part of our democracy.鈥�

The 老澳门开奖结果 of DC鈥檚 lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, seeks monetary compensation for the four individuals in an amount to be determined by a jury.

Among the plaintiffs in today鈥檚 case are New York resident Shay Horse, who was covering the protests as a photojournalist, and Baltimore resident Elizabeth Lagesse, an activist who travelled to D.C. to peacefully protest President Trump鈥檚 inauguration. An MPD officer witnessed Horse taking photos to document the protest, then pepper-sprayed him. Lagesse did not participate in any acts of vandalism whatsoever. Both Horse and Lagesse were kettled and subjected to pepper spray, tear gas, and painful handcuffing, and they were denied food, water, and bathroom access for several hours.

The 老澳门开奖结果 of DC also represents D.C. resident Judah Ariel, a legal observer whose neon-green hat clearly marked him as an observer and who was monitoring the conditions of the people trapped in the kettle when he was pepper-sprayed by MPD officers without warning or justification.

The 老澳门开奖结果 of DC is also seeking damages on behalf of Horse and fellow detainee Milo Gonzalez, who were subjected to invasive manual rectal probe searches while in police custody.

鈥淚've been documenting protests for years and I've never seen police act like this in America in such an open, blatant way in broad daylight,鈥� Horse said. 鈥淪o many of us suffered tremendously just for exercising our First Amendment rights to cover the demonstrations or participate in them. With this lawsuit, I want to stand up for all the protestors who were abused and bullied and assaulted and molested.鈥�

In addition to the constitutional claims under the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, the lawsuit charges MPD violated D.C.鈥檚 First Amendment Assemblies Act. That act specifies that tactics that 鈥渟ubstantially encircle鈥� protesters are unlawful unless police have probable cause to believe protesters 鈥渉ave committed unlawful acts鈥� and 鈥減olice have ability to identify those individuals.鈥� The lawsuit also raises claims for assault and battery and false arrest, among others.

The lawsuit is Horse v. District of Columbia. The amended complaint, filed on January 3, 2018, can be found here: