'Gross Abuse of Executive Power': Trump Faces Another Lawsuit Over Forced Clearing of Lafayette Square Protesters
"This case concerns a day that will live in infamy. It's the day that our federal executive branch unleashed a military and paramilitary force on a band of peaceful protesters assembled in historic Lafayette Park across from the White House," the complaint reads.
June 11, 2020 at 04:51 PM
3 minute read
Thousands march in Washington, D.C., protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota at the hands of local police on June 6, 2020. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
A second federal lawsuit was filed Thursday against President Donald Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other members of his administration over the clearing of protesters in Lafayette Square earlier this month so the president could attend a photo-op at a nearby church.
The incident, in which officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the peaceful crowd on June 1, has been widely condemned by attorneys and former Justice Department officials, and administration officials have also sought to distance themselves from the event in recent days.
Thursday's complaint was filed by attorneys with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher on behalf of protesters in the park in front of the White House that day. The lawsuit alleges the incident violated the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments as well as "long-standing federal law prohibiting use of such military force on domestic targets."
"This case concerns a day that will live in infamy. It's the day that our federal executive branch unleashed a military and paramilitary force on a band of peaceful protesters assembled in historic Lafayette Park across from the White House," the complaint reads.
"And what prompted this military attack on peaceful civilian targets? President Trump's desire to walk through the park a few minutes later to stage a photo-op publicity stunt holding a bible as a political prop in front of a nearby church," the suit continues, alleging the move "was a gross abuse of executive power."
A similar lawsuit was brought forward last week by lawyers with the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. That legal team filed an amended complaint earlier this week seeking to make the complaint a class-action suit. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich is assigned to that case.
Read the complaint:
Read more:
Trump, Barr Sued for Use of Force Against Lafayette Square Demonstrators
'A Line Was Crossed.' SCOTUS Lawyers Denounce Barr Over Move on Lafayette Square Demonstrators
City Bar Calls for 'Prompt Investigation' of Decision to Clear Protesters From Lafayette Park
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