The Portland Police Bureau is investigating this tweet one of its officers posted about an upcoming Black Lives Matter protest.
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Then, just as evening shows let out along Shattuck Avenue and well-dressed theater-goers stood in line to pay at the parking garages on Telegraph Avenue, police deployed tear gas, sending the now-massive group of protesters scattering while unsuspecting bystanders screamed as gas burned their eyes and choked them.
The complaint reportedly asserts that “Berkeley Police responded brutally, clubbing peaceful protesters and journalists, often from behind, some in the head, indiscriminately and unnecessarily; and using profligate amounts of teargas without justification”.
They said demonstrators who were clubbed were warned to move and acknowledged that a few reporters were hit with batons during this time.
Rachel Lederman, president of the NLG’s San Francisco Bay Area chapter, said today that people in her office were surprised when after protests in numerous Bay Area cities, “the Police Department about which we received the most complaints and most shocking reports was Berkeley”.
Also speaking at the news conference were Pincus, a member of the Unitarian Universalist clergy; and Law, a local activist who also works for the city’s rent board staff.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Berkeley for more than five hours that Saturday evening, many clashing with riot police made up of mutual-aid officers from other jurisdictions, including the Hayward Police Department.
A fellow officer driving nearby heard the gunshots, saw a vehicle leaving the parking lot and gave chase, ultimately seeing the occupants of that vehicle ditch it in a residential area of neighboring Montebello before fleeing on foot, Sheriff’s Lieutenant John Corina said at a news conference earlier this week.
Spokespeople for the Berkeley Police Department did not return requests for comment. “[Berkeley] decided this was going to be a violent protest, and by their own words, they did crowd control and not crowd management”.
Six individuals have been arrested, together with two plaintiffs named within the lawsuit, and one police officer was injured, the Chronicle reported.
The lawsuit said police violently handled protesters through the evening, and used tear gas, smoke grenades and shotgun-fired lead-filled bean bags on the large crowd. Johnson et al. seek statutory and punitive damages for civil rights violations, including violations of the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments, false arrest and imprisonment and negligence.
According to police briefing materials provided by the plaintiffs’ attorneys, officers were instructed to collect evidence such as projectiles thrown at police to be used as evidence in court and to provide to media.
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Civil-rights advocates gathered Tuesday outside Seattle City Hall to encourage police to refrain from using violence on protesters.
