Black Lives Matter has obtained the assistance of law firm Arnold Porter Kaye Scholer in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump following the violent dispersal of protesters in Washington DC.
The firm joined various civil rights organizations to bring the lawsuit on behalf Black Lives Matter D.C. and five protesters who claim they were injured in a clash involving tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray used to disperse them from Layfayette Squre, near the White House.
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, ACLU of the District of Columbia, and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law are also representing the plaintiffs.
The violent protests follow the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and the lawsuit is filed against Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Attorney General William Barr.
“This is an important case and it’s a pretty square fundamental question of whether senior government officials can completely trot over core constitutional rights without consequence,” said John Freedman, senior pro bono counsel, who is leading the firm’s efforts in the case and according to Bloomberg Law is working with a team of about 20 lawyers on the case.
“The President’s shameless, unconstitutional, and frankly criminal attack on peaceful protesters because he disagreed with their views shakes the foundation of our nation’s constitutional order,” Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia said in a statement.
