A federal judge dismissed most of the claims made by activists and civil liberty groups that claimed the Trump administration violated the civil rights protesters who were removed by police using chemical agent from a park close to the White House. This happened before President Donald Trump went to a nearby church to take photos.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich stated Monday that the allegations in the suit, which allege Trump and former-AttorneyGeneral William Barr conspired last June to violate the rights protesters, were speculative. It was too early for the court’s conclusion as to whether the actions taken by law enforcement officers were justified.
Friedrich dismissed claims against Barr, and other federal officials, such as Gregory Monahan (acting U.S. Park Police Chief), because there wasn’t enough evidence to show there was an agreement or plan to violate protesters’ rights. They are also immune from civil lawsuits, according to the judge.
The judge allowed the claims against the Metropolitan Police Department (and the Arlington Police Department) to proceed in a 51-page ruling. Their officers were involved with clearing the park.
The lawsuit was triggered by one of Trump’s most prominent moments. Federal and local law enforcement officers forced peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square outside the White House. They fired pepper balls and smoke bombs into the crowd to disperse them. As they drove the crowd back, officers were seen pushing journalists and protesters.
Barr claimed that he met with law enforcement officials earlier in the day to discuss a plan to increase the security perimeter surrounding the White House in order to protect federal agents following days of unrest in Washington, which followed the death of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis.
After the crowd had been dispersed, Trump was accompanied by Barr’s most senior aides, along with Secret Service agents, reporters and Secret Service agents. He then walked to St. John’s Church. This landmark church is where every president has prayed. It had been damaged in a protest fire a day before.
The lawsuit was filed in behalf of Black Lives Matter D.C., the group Black Lives Matter D.C., and individual protesters who attended by the ACLU of DC and Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil rights and Urban Affairs, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Right Under Law, and Arnold & Porter.
Arthur Ago, director of the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law, stated that the ruling was an “extremely dangerous precedent” in which former officials such as Barr “get off lightly.”
Ago stated that “We will always stand up to the rights of those peacefully protesting for racial Justice, and this ruling sends a wrong message for police accountability efforts during a time it is most needed.”
