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Summary of the Charlotte Police Protesters Class Action Lawsuit:
- Who: About 50 participants in last year’s racial justice protests have sued the city of Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Why: Plaintiffs allege that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police caught and attacked them, throwing stun grenades and tear gas, and firing rubber and pepper bullets at them.
- Where: Charlotte, North Carolina
A new class action lawsuit alleges that North Carolina police trapped peaceful protesters in a parking lot and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at them during the 2020 racial injustice protests.
The class action lawsuit was filed against the city of Charlotte by around 50 protesters who allege that they were caught and attacked by police on June 2, 2020, throwing rocket bombs and tear gas, and firing rubber and pepper pellets at them from a parking platform above them as they tried to protest peacefully, WCNC reports.
One of the protesters, Jonathan Quintero, said police led the protesters into an ambush.
“I really felt very safe,” Quintero told WCNC. “I thought, what could happen out here with all these cops escorting us?”
Plaintiffs Katie Rothweiler and Chantel Kennedy told the news outlet that Rothweiler was injured with a non-lethal bullet. “I was running across the street to get away from the situation and I was shot in the back of the head,” Rothweiler said.
“My brother and I were separated because we were holding hands, and I was knocked down and trampled on,” Kennedy said.
Another protester, Corey Newton, said he saw strollers being knocked over and older people with walking problems run over, “it was just chaos.”
Newton told WCNC that he felt worse because he helped organize the event and told people it would be peaceful. “I feel incredibly bad, really, because that was not my intention,” he said.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has since banned the use of tear gas and revised various policies in response to protests, but protesters say that’s not enough.
“Someone has to be held accountable,” Newton said.
The police department released the body camera footage from the protest in question in August 2020, and one officer could be heard saying, “We’re going to push your a- straight to 4th. As soon as they get to 4th – because now we’ve got them bottled – Rory’s squad is going to come out and pound their ass. When they start running down, the Dancer squad is going to hammer their a- with gas, “reports WCNC. The officer adds,” Say goodbye. They are about to be gassed. “
The police department told WCNC that it had not reviewed the class action lawsuit and could not comment on the case while it was in court.
One of the protesters’ attorneys, Timothy Emry with The Emry Law Firm, told WCNC that: “The CMPD had committed a deliberate and planned attack against those who dared to challenge police violence.”
Lauren Newton, an attorney for Charles G. Monnett III & Associates, told the news outlet that there were individual police officers who “planned and orchestrated this kettling, this trap, the tear gas, the pepper bullets and rubber bullets.” .
He estimated that between 300 and 400 people could be eligible to join the class action lawsuit.
What do you think of the police response to the 2020 racial justice protests? Let us know your opinion in the comment section!
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