Journalists, protesters sue police over clash at Black Lives march in Berkeley

A group of journalists and demonstrators has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Berkeley and Hayward police departments of civil rights violations and the excessive use of force during a protest last December.

Berkeley police clubbed protesters, some from behind, and gassed others during the March Against State Violence on Dec. 6, 2014, in Berkeley, according to the lawsuit filed Sunday in U.S. District Court. The suit alleges that Hayward police, who were called to assist officers during the protest, shot nonlethal ammunition at protesters.

“This march was part of the growing nationwide movement for Black Lives, protesting the many killings of unarmed black people by white police officers and the systemic failure to hold those officers accountable,” attorney Rachel Lederman said. “Rather than facilitating the public’s right to speak out on this important issue in Berkeley, birthplace of the Free Speech movement, the Berkeley police assumed the worst and treated all of the demonstrators as if they were criminals.”

Curtis Johnson, one of 11 plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, was shot in the knee with nonlethal ammunition while marching, according to the lawsuit. The 30-year-old Los Angeles resident and former NAACP staffer said he joined the march because he was moved by the grand jury decision not to indict New York police in the death of Eric Garner.

The grand jury’s decision in the Garner case, and a similar decision in the case of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager fatally shot by a white officer in Missouri, sparked an uproar over race relations and police use of force.

Hayward City Atty. Michael Lawson said the city had not been served with the lawsuit and he could not comment.

The Berkeley Police Department said it couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because they hadn’t heard the allegations.

City employee Moni Law, 55, seminary student Cindy Pincus, 30, and San Francisco Chronicle photographer Sam Wolson, 25, were clubbed in the back of the head by officers, according to the lawsuit. Emily Power, a 20-year-old barrista, and Reginald Lee James, a 32-year-old multimedia journalist, said in the lawsuit they was repeatedly clubbed by Berkeley officers.

Berkeley resident Joseph Cuff, 62, said in the lawsuit that he was knocked to the ground by an officer.

UC Berkeley student Nisa Dang, 21, and city employee Moni Law, 55, had a burning smoke grenade thrown at them, the lawsuit said. Dang said she was jabbed with batons, struck with tear gas and forced to walk from Berkeley to Oakland.

According to the lawsuit, Berkeley officers pulled UC Berkeley student Joseph Watkins, 22, to the ground, covered his face and mouth and arrested him for unknown reasons.

James Chanin, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the actions of Berkeley officers show they need more training as well as body cameras to record their actions. The plaintiffs, attorneys said, are hoping their lawsuit will bring change to the department in the way that officers conduct themselves during peaceful demonstrations and protect the right to protest.

“Berkeley has just forgotten the lessons they learned,” Chanin said.

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