Bay Area journalist Tim Ryan has sued the City of Oakland, claiming that he fell and fractured his foot while on assignment for KCBS Radio during the 2020 George Floyd protests after police indiscriminately used tear gas and flash-bang grenades on the crowd.
Ryan filed suit against the city in federal court on Wednesday, naming two police officers as co-defendants for their role in the Oakland Police Department's handling of a June 1, 2020 protest. In a court filing obtained by KCBS Radio, Ryan alleged the city and the named officers failed to properly train and oversee officers who used excessive force that night, violating the protestors’ constitutionally protected right to peacefully assemble and Ryan's to report on the scene.
The Oakland City Attorney's Office didn’t respond to KCBS Radio's request for comment prior to publication. The Oakland Police Department said it doesn't comment on pending litigation, directing a reporter to contact the City Attorney.
The suit claimed that officers fired tear gas "towards peaceful participants in the protests and journalists" at the intersection of Broadway and 9th Street at around 7:40 p.m. on June 1. Ryan wore a helmet labeled "PRESS" and a press identification on his belt, according to the filing.
Having trouble breathing as his eyes, nose and throat burned, Ryan tripped and fell while attempting to run away. Ryan sustained a "near full thickness tear (to) his right anterior talofibular ligament; a partial tear of his right calcaneofibular ligament; a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone of his right foot," according to the suit.
Capt. Roland Holmgren and Sgt. Patrick Gonzalez were named co-defendants in the suit. Holmgren "had full authority over the tactics and weapons" used by the officers that night, according to the filing. Gonzalez, meanwhile, had been "authorized and equipped to utilize tear gas and other less-lethal weapons" as crowd-control measures.
Ryan is seeking unspecified damages in the suit, which is one of a number of cases over the Oakland Police Department’s handling of the protests. Dan Siegel, Ryan’s attorney, told KCBS Radio in an email that his firm is representing the plaintiffs in the Anti-Police Terror Project's lawsuit against the city.
Siegel said his clients were tear-gassed at 8th and Broadway the same night as Ryan, and Ryan’s case could be reassigned to the same judge overseeing the other lawsuit.
In another lawsuit, three protestors are suing the police department and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office for violating their constitutional rights and the departments’ crowd control policies during the June 1 protests. A judge in November ordered a settlement conference, according to Oakland North.
Last July, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said officers violated the department’s use-of-force policies 35 times during the May 29-June 1, 2020 protests. Investigators implicated more than 20 officers who broke the department’s rules, according to Armstrong.
You can read Ryan's lawsuit below.
Related
