Deray McKesson has become one of the prominent figures connected to the Black Lives Matter movement and continues to thrust himself out in front to support the group’s cause. McKesson, who was arrested last month in Baton Rouge, La., has filed a lawsuit against the city over the mass arrests that took place during protests over the shooting death of Alton Sterling.
NBC News reports:
Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson filed a class action lawsuit Thursday against the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for alleged excessive use of force by police after he and more than 100 other protesters were arrested for “simple obstruction of highway commerce” last month.
McKesson’s arrest on July 9 was captured on a live-stream on Periscope after he had been protesting the police shooting death of Alton Sterling.
McKesson was released from the East Baton Rouge Parish jail the next day, and the obstruction charges against McKesson and the other 100 protesters were later dropped.
The lawsuit said it will seek damages for civil rights violations for the “unlawful mass arrests” made by the city’s police without probable cause.
Some of the people arrested for highway obstruction were apprehended on sidewalks, the grass and residents’ homes, the suit added.
Activists have long contended that police response to the largely peaceful protests against police shootings has been excessive at times. The ACLU filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of the dozens of protesters they say were wrongly accosted and arrested.
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Photo: AP Photo/Max Becherer
