Oregon BLM Class Action Says Police Target Press At Protests

Oregon journalists and legal observers have been joined by the ACLU in filing a class action lawsuit against Portland, its officials and police officers.

The journalists and the ACLU have taken to court to challenge the police department’s allegedly unjustifiable use of force against the press and neutral bystanders during Portland’s George Floyd protests.

Journalists Tuck Woodstock,  Mathieu Lewis-Rolland, Sam Gehrke, and John Rudoff and legal observers Kat Mahoney and Doug Brown explain they were in Portland documenting the protests against police brutality and were met with police violence.

The journalists say they and others were assaulted with batons, rubber bullets and tear gas while observing police conduct towards protesters. The plaintiffs claim the police response was unconstitutional, and “strikes at the core of our democracy.”

The lawsuit explains the violence used against them is just one element of a larger pattern of police brutality against journalists documenting the protests following Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. They cite numerous examples of what they say are unjustifiable violence against the press in protests around the country.

The Portland protests class action lawsuit asserts that this type of aggression towards the press has the goal of suppressing media coverage regarding police brutality.

According to the lawsuit, police officers intimidating journalists and observers, and using violence against them “is the craft of the world’s most oppressive regimes and has no place in Portland — or anywhere else in the world.”

The Portland police brutality class action lawsuit explains that after Floyd was killed, thousands of people began to protest in Portland. They allegedly were protesting not only Floyd’s death, but systemic racism and violence in policing. The reporters note there have been many instances of police murdering Black people in Portland alone. 

Over the course of four weeks, thousands of people gathered in Portland to protest the police and the murder of Black people. The plaintiffs note that these protests continue today.

Reportedly, the focus of many of these protests has taken place at the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland, which is home to the central police precinct, offices for police staff, county courtrooms, and a county jail. The demonstrators explain that hundreds of people are held in “small cage-like cells” in this jail, and a disproportionately high number of Black people are held there.

The observers and journalists go on to say that the Justice Center is a symbol of iniquity, and has attracted many peaceful protests. Despite the non-violent nature of these protests, police have allegedly responded with violence.

The lawsuit recounts that the police used violence in an attempt to deter speech on the issue of police brutality and systemic racism. They say the police shot rubber bullets into crowds of peaceful protesters.

Though these devices are deemed “pain compliance devices” and are used to “provide sufficient pain stimulus” to “incapacitate…an aggressive, non-compliant subject,” the police allegedly use them against peaceful protesters, reporters and observers.

The press and observers stress that rubber bullets can be lethal if they hit someone in the head, or can cause serious injury. 

The plaintiffs recount that the police also use multiple kinds of tear gas. They say tear gas is banned from use in warfare due to its effects. They note that tear gas causes inflammation, coughing, wheezing, burns, and difficulty breathing. Allegedly, it is particularly damaging to those with respiratory illnesses, and effectively weaponizes the coronavirus.

The Portland ACLU class action lawsuit asserts that the use of police violence violates the First Amendment and suppresses the freedom of the press. The plaintiffs seek an order declaring the police’s conduct towards press and observers unconstitutional.

They also seek an injunction barring the police from continuing to target press and observers in the future, and damages for the injuries that they and others allegedly sustained at the hands of the police.

Has your city responded to the death of George Floyd with protests? Share your experiences in the comments below.

The journalists and observers are represented by Kelly K. Simon of the ACLU Foundation of Oregon, and by Athul K. Acharya, Matthew Borden, J. Noah Hagey, and Gunnar K. Martz of Braunhagey & Borden LLP.

The Portland Black Lives Matter Violence Against Journalists Class Action Lawsuit is Tuck Woodstock, et al. v. City of Portland, et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-01035-BR, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division.

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