Background

This litigation was filed by the Partnership for Civil Justice on behalf of demonstrators who were assaulted in a police riot against a permitted anti-war demonstration protesting the occupation of Iraq on April 12, 2003.

In an incident caught by news cameras, plaintiff Marc Frucht, was held on the ground by police officers as another clubbed him repeatedly in the head with his nightstick. He had been attempting to photograph police misconduct when attacked. Plaintiff, Sean Taft-Morales was injured when the police rushed and began attacking the crowd from both sides with clubs and fists as it marched on its permitted route.

In addition to damages, the lawsuit seeks an injunction against the MPD’s use of motorcycles and bicycles as weapons to drive into and against demonstrators, the MPD’s use of police and cycle lines to flank marchers and prohibit persons from leaving or joining demonstration activities, and the MPD’s use of the “rush tactic” in which police officers charge and assault assembled demonstrators.