Washington, June 5: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in partnership with Black Lives Matter and other rights groups has sued President Donald Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other high-level administration officials over the use of tear gas and other weapons on protesters in Washington, DC earlier this week, the organization said in a press release.
“The lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia and seeks an order declaring President Trump, Attorney General Barr and other administration officials violated the protesters’ First and Fourth Amendment rights, as well as engaged in a conspiracy to deny those rights,” the release said on Thursday.
The release further said the lawsuit seeks an order barring the Trump administration from repeating the activities and it also seeks damages for the injuries plaintiffs sustained.
The ACLU has also filing a lawsuit on behalf of journalists who were targeted and attacked by Minneapolis police and Minnesota state police officers while covering protests over the killing of George Floyd.
On Monday, media outlets, including Sputnik, reported that tear gas and rubber bullets were used to disperse demonstrators near the White House who were protesting another police-related death of African American George Floyd in police custody.
Nicole Roussell, a Sputnik journalist in Washington, DC, said she was fired at by US police several times while covering the protests, despite saying several times she was a press staffer. As Roussell filmed protesters “being sprayed with mace in their eyes,” she was shot at with a rubber bullet on her calf.
On Sunday, RIA Novosti correspondent Mikhail Turgiyev was pepper-sprayed in the face by a Minneapolis police officer despite identifying himself as a reporter, while covering the protests. A VICE television crew was also affected during the incident.
(AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
