Extra allegations of abuse and civil rights violations added to Seattle Black Lives Matter protesters lawsuit

The number of plaintiffs has risen to nearly 100, and the driver of the fatal accident in which an activist was killed during a protest on I-5 was included as a defendant in the protesters’ lawsuit for assault, wrongful death and civil rights in Seattle and Olympia.

The lawsuit now names 55 parties including the estate of Summer TaylorThe Capitol Hill activist was found hit and killed by a fast driving driver Washington State Patrol closed I-5 during the July protest and another 40 anonymous “Doe” members.

“The BLM / George Floyd protests continue to this day and have inflicted additional injuries not only on these plaintiffs but also on countless others, including others represented by the undersigned attorney,” the plaintiffs’ legal team wrote.

Meanwhile, a protester who became one of the most recognizable faces of the summer CHOP protests and BLM marches has been removed from the lawsuit Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore and Cedar Law PLLCThe firms working on the case could, proponents say, set important new precedents in protest disputes.

Dan Gregory |shot the unarmed protester as he tried to disarm him Nikolas FernandezAfter Fernandez drove into a demonstration crowd on June 11 and Pine in June, the brother of an East Precinct official temporarily suspended his claims pending the Fernandez criminal case, attorney Karen Koehler says CHS.

Koehler, who describes the complaint as a “historic lawsuit over the right to protest,” says the decision to add Dawit Kelete to protest against defendants of the City of Seattle and the Washington State would be a standard procedure in the event of a death involving something like highway planning. The question in this case will relate to Washington State Patrol’s actions and the blocking of ramps and exits, but the need to include the driver in the lawsuit in the Summer Taylor vehicle murder case will be similar and, according to Koehler, Police assist plaintiffs when the state tries to argue that it is the driver’s decisions, not the WSP’s actions, to be at fault.

Kelete, meanwhile, has been released from prison and detained despite being held on $ 1.2 million bail in January. He pleaded not guilty of vehicle murder, vehicle attacks, and reckless driving.

In addition to the state’s failure to secure I-5, plaintiffs alleged the SPD used unconstitutional excessive force and militarized tactics, including the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and explosive balls against peaceful protesters. SKKM and Cedar also claim that the SPD targeted the plaintiffs for protesting racial issues.

Complaints from the newly added defendants of the massive lawsuit, currently scheduled for trial in September, add to these allegations, including details of crowd control injuries, rubber bullets, and harsh treatment during arrests and in custody – including an allegation that a prison guard slams a plaintiff’s head “into the surface of a desk and breaks both of his front teeth.”

“This lawsuit is being filed on behalf of peaceful protesters in Seattle, all of whom were disguised under the Washington State Constitution to advocate freedom of speech and assembly on behalf of the Black Lives Matter Movement and George Floyd,” it said Complaint.

The fully amended complaint with details of each plaintiff is listed below.

Images of alleged abuse brought by new plaintiffs in the lawsuit

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