Four protesters were jailed for writing anti-police graffiti in chalk on a temporary fence near a Seattle police station. Federal court judges decided that their civil rights were violated and gave them nearly $700,000.
The four people were arrested on January 1, 2021. This happened after the intense Black Lives Matter protests in Seattle and many other cities around the world the previous summer, which were caused by the death of Black man George Floyd. A white Minneapolis police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck for about 9 1/2 minutes while he was handcuffed and screaming that he couldn’t breathe. This killed him.
“It’s clear that the tensions and feelings that were alive in the city that summer are a big part of this case,” said Nathaniel Flack, one of the protesters’ lawyers. “And the evidence showed that the Plaintiffs were arrested and jailed because of their dislike of Black Lives Matter protesters.”
When the 10-person jury came back with their decision late Friday night, Derek Tucson, Robin Snyder, Monsieree De Castro, and Erik Moya-Delgado were each given $20,000 in compensatory damages and $150,000 in punitive damages.
The case was brought against the city of Seattle and four police officers: Ryan Kennard, Dylan Nelson, Alexander Patton, and Michele Letizia. It was in federal court. The jury decided that the city and the officers who arrested and jailed the four were acting in response to the complaints. They did this with malice, reckless disregard, or abuse, which was against the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.
On Tuesday, emails were sent to the Seattle city attorney’s office, Seattle police, and the police guild asking for a response, but they were not answered right away.
A temporary fence near the police department’s East Precinct was written with words like “Free Them All” and “Peaceful Protest” on January 1, 2021. The graffiti was made with chalk and charcoal. Body cam pictures shown in court showed that finally three police cruisers arrived and arrested the four for breaking the city’s graffiti rules.
The four people were locked up for one night, but they were never charged.
Flack said that evidence given in court showed that police don’t usually follow the law that says people can’t use sidewalk chalk. Lawyers showed a video of police writing “I (heart) POLICE” in chalk on a Seattle sidewalk at a different event.
Flack also said it was strange that all four of them were jailed because it happened during an outbreak of COVID-19 and only the worst criminals should have been locked up.
According to Flack, these police officers were using what they called the “protester exception.” This means that if you’re a protester with a certain message or type of speech, they will arrest you and put you in jail.
“Not only did the jury find that certain officers were doing that, but they also found that there was a larger pattern that the city leadership knew about and was responsible for,” he said.
Police officers and other government workers across the county who break people’s First Amendment rights should be warned and taught this, the lawyers for the claimants said.
“Our clients were locked up because of what they said because of what the police decided based on content and viewpoint,” Flack said. “The most important thing is that police can’t jail people for what they say.”
Source: AP
