Black Lives Matter files lawsuit against Santa Monica police over last summer's rioting

Their central claim is that the authorities went after the more peaceful demonstrators while “organized criminals” created havoc all over town.

ADVERTISEMENT
Image
Nick Monroe Cleveland Ohio
ADVERTISEMENT

A Black Lives Matter group is suing the Santa Monica police over their handling of rioting that occurred in the area at the height of last summer’s George Floyd demonstrations.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the Monday filing of the lawsuit submitted by the Los Angeles division of Black Lives Matter. This round of allegations against Santa Monica police are like the class action lawsuit BLM-LA submitted against the LAPD.

They’re seeking the same class-action status in the Santa Monica matter.

To back up their claims BLM-LA has accounts from several protesters. David Brown is said to have been arrested on the street, struck with batons, and had to sit it out in jail over a curfew violation. Brown was driven to Los Angeles and told not to re-enter Santa Monica.

But he actually lived there. He wasn’t from out of town. This usage of curfew orders by local authorities is one of the points of complaint cited to the court.

The former Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud is named as a defendant, and she's on the record as previously saying that the police department was equipped to handle "protests and riotous activity," but "organized criminals" were a new element at play in the chaos that the cops were "not prepared" to contend with.

What that meant for the city in terms of damages from the rioting entails, per the recollection by LA Times:

"In Santa Monica, where the unrest largely occurred May 31, many boutiques and shops were burglarized. The city counted 178 incidents of nonresidential “looting,” 49 incidents of vandalism, 10 assaults on officers, 18 damaged police cars, 12 arsons, 17 aggravated assaults and nine burglaries associated with the unrest that day, among other crimes."

The suit claims constitutional rights were violated when they preemptively banned “peaceful assemblies, kettling the demonstrators, subjecting them to unlawful force, arresting and detaining them tightly handcuffed on buses for hours, without access to bathrooms, water, or food.”

BLM-LA's legal representation for the case is Carol Sobel, a Santa Monica-based activist who was staff attorney for two decades, serving the ACLU of Southern California. Sobel is also the lead on the LAPD lawsuit.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign in to comment

Comments

Powered by StructureCMS™ Comments

Join and support independent free thinkers!

We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.

Support The Post Millennial

Remind me next month

To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 The Post Millennial, Privacy Policy