丹佛——科罗拉多州和阿诺德的sbobet篮球 & 波特提交了 诉讼 today against the City and County of Denver on behalf of Black Lives Matter 5280 (BLM 5280) and individual plaintiffs who were injured by police while protesting police violence in late May and early June. The 诉讼 challenges the use of tear gas and “非致命” weapons that police unleashed against nonviolent protesters who were demonstrating over the killings of Black men and women at the hands of law enforcement. The officers' unjustified attacks on protesters’ First and Fourth Amendment rights caused both physical and emotional injuries. 丹佛警方也违反了自己的规定 内部使用武力政策 when they recklessly fired dangerous projectiles indiscriminately into crowds, 完全不考虑安全, 生活, 或者法律. 这样做的时候, the police not only failed to make the city safer but further widened the chasm of distrust between community and police.
“金融城的行动, 尽管在任何情况下都是违宪的, are even more pernicious here because the use of this dangerously excessive force specifically targeted peaceful demonstrators who assembled to protest police brutality, particularly law enforcement violence that disproportionality targets Black and Brown people,利记sbobet州法律主任马克·西尔弗斯坦说. “警方袭击和平抗议者没有合法依据. 我们打算让执法部门承担全部责任, not only the frontline officers but also the higher-ups who were responsible for ordering or allowing law enforcement to carry out these flagrant and pervasive violations of constitutional rights.”
阿诺德 & 波特合伙人Timothy Macdonald, 谁是公司丹佛办事处的负责人, explained that “this 诉讼 demands that the City and its police department stop using indiscriminate and unlawful force against peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights to assemble, 说话, 并向他们的政府请愿，要求纠正他们的冤屈. 丹佛警方的行为令人发指, particularly in attacking the peaceful protesters seeking to affirm the principle that Black Lives Matter.”
乔治·弗洛伊德之死, a 46-year-old Black man who was killed by white Minneapolis police officers, 引发了全国范围内的抗议浪潮, 包括在科罗拉多州. 在抗议活动的头几天, 丹佛执法人员, assisted by the Colorado State Patrol and almost a dozen additional law enforcement agencies, 用催泪瓦斯袭击和平示威者, 胡椒球枪, 橡胶和泡沫子弹还有闪光弹, 没有挑衅, 经常造成严重的身体伤害. 尽管抗议者们跪下来高呼口号, “举起手来, 别开枪,警方释放了催泪瓦斯和胡椒弹. 而警察称他们的武器为非致命,” 2017年的一项研究 found that 3% of people hit by projectiles worldwide died and 15% of those studied were permanently injured.
除了BLM 5280, ACLU的客户还包括Dr. Apryl亚历山大, a clinical and forensic psychologist and professor at the University of Denver, 也是BLM 5280的领导者. 在5月28日第一天的抗议活动中，吴彦祖说. Alexander witnessed police officers launching tear gas into protesters without warning. 几个小时后, 她发现自己被困在两团气团之间, 咳嗽, 眼睛和喉咙灼烧，神志不清. 一天半以后，她的脸继续发烫. 警察的袭击迫使她离开了示威活动, 剥夺了她行使宪法第一修正案赋予的权利.
科罗拉多人举行民事抗议，悼念布里奥娜·泰勒, 乔治•弗洛伊德, 托尼·麦克达德, 以利亚麦克莱恩, De’Von Bailey and many others to police brutality — only to be met with excessive force in the form of tear gas, 胡椒球, 橡皮子弹,” Dr. 亚历山大说. 在这两种情况下, we are seeking accountability for these forms of aggressive and violent tactics. The indiscriminate carelessness at which these chemical and physical weapons were deployed toward protesters, 记者和医务人员不应该再发生这种事.”
The 诉讼 seeks to hold Denver law enforcement accountable for its actions as well as the actions of the additional law enforcement agencies who assisted Denver police. The complaint seeks an order banning Denver law enforcement from deploying tear gas and so-called “less lethal” weapons on peaceful protesters. The 诉讼 also seeks compensatory damages for violations of constitutional rights on behalf of BLM 5280 and individual plaintiffs, 包括博士. 亚历山大和:
- 伊丽莎白·埃普斯:毒气, shot and bruised multiple times with projectiles including one that hit her face, breaking the plastic medical-grade respirator mask she was wearing and wounding her face.
- 阿什莉·韦奇沃斯:毒气, 遭受疼痛和呼吸困难, 还有她眼中的灼烧, 鼻子, 并在被袭击数小时后面对. She remains fearful of being gassed or hit by projectiles if she exercises her right to protest in the future.
- Amanda Blasingame and Maya Rothlein: had SWAT officers shoot pepper ball bullets directly at their home while they were sitting on the front steps. Pepper ball bullets hit the front door and even entered the apartment building. An officer also came up to their face and threatened to pepper spray them, staring directly at Ms. Rothlein, the only Black person in the front yard, as he made the threat. Ms. Rothlein, 谁是黑人变性人, 感觉自己成了目标，对大声的噪音和警笛变得敏感.
- Zach Packard: hit in the head with a projectile and immediately knocked unconscious. Mr. Packard suffered a fractured skull and jaw, two fractured discs, and bleeding in his brain. Mr. 帕卡德在医院住了大约一个星期. He has been prescribed anti-seizure medication, muscle relaxers, and oxycodone. Mr. Packard currently must wear a neck brace and is in a significant amount of pain.
- 霍利斯·莱曼:被毒气毒死了, shot by a pepper ball that bruised her arm and suffered temporary hearing loss from grenades. 自从有过抗议的经历后，奥巴马女士. 莱曼一直难以入睡，而且一直很焦虑.
- Cidney Fisk:被毒气熏昏了头. Fisk was shaking and sobbing when she returned home and had to use her nebulizer. 在经历了抗议活动之后，她说. 菲斯克有两天无法下床. She’s suffered nightmares since the protests and remains fearful of the police.
- Stanford Smith: encouraged other protesters to remain peaceful yet was sprayed directly in the face with pepper spray by one officer without warning. Mr. Smith feared for his 生活, could not see and felt as though his face was on fire. His face remained red for several days and his skin eventually peeled off.
The 诉讼 was filed in Federal District Court in Denver by the ACLU of Colorado legal team of Mark Silverstein, Sara Neel and Arielle Herzberg and ACLU Cooperating Attorneys Timothy R. 马修·麦克唐纳. 道格拉斯，埃德·阿罗，R. 里夫斯·安德森，科林·M. 凯瑟琳·奥布莱恩. Custer和Anya A. 阿诺德的哈维里亚克 & Porter Kaye Scholer律师事务所.
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科罗拉多州的sbobet篮球是该州历史最悠久的民权组织, protecting and defending the civil rights of all Coloradans through litigation, 教育和宣传.
