Three protesters who were on the Crescent City Connection last June when NOPD resorted to using tear gas to stop their march have sued the police department, The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reports.
The federal lawsuit seeks class-action status. It claims the police department violated their First Amendment rights, violated its own use-of-force policies, and had "no legitimate basis" to break up the march.
The demonstration was one of several taking place around the nation in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died when Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. A Minnesota jury convicted Chauvin on murder charges earlier this month.
After demonstrations on previous nights without incident in New Orleans, protesters marched onto the Pontchartrain Expressway June 3 in the Westbank-bound lanes and approached the bridge.
NOPD officials say the demonstrators were told to turn back before they headed into the jurisdiction of Jefferson Parish. The conflict began shortly thereafter.
The lawsuit claims the NOPD gave no warning before it resorted to tear gas, rubber bullets, and other riot control measures.
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