Seattle Police sued for ‘unnecessary violence’ against Black Lives Matter protesters: report

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court this Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best violated the constitutional rights of protesters regarding police brutality and racism when they allowed the Seattle Police Department to deploy “unnecessary violence” during crowd control operations, The Seattle Times reports.

"The lawsuit against Seattle alleges that Durkan and Best have deprived protesters and others of their First Amendment rights by using chemical agents such as tear gas and pepper spray, as well as projectiles such as flash-bang grenades and blast balls, to crack down on the free-speech demonstrations sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The lawsuit also alleges the city has deprived protesters of their Fourth Amendment rights by subjecting crowds to excessive force," the Times' Daniel Beekman writes.

Read the full report over at The Seattle Times.