Black Lives Matter protest, in Pittsburgh. Photo: Dean Dietrick Jr/Shutterstock.com

Several participants in anti-racism protests earlier this month have sued Pittsburgh and numerous city officials over excessive police tactics, including the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, to break up the otherwise peaceful demonstrations.

The lawsuit is likely the first case to be filed in Pennsylvania over the widespread protests, which often led to high-profile police crackdowns, including in Philadelphia where the mayor and police commissioner recently apologized for using tear gas on protesters who were marching on a restricted-access highway.

The proposed class action, captioned Rulli v. City of Pittsburgh, was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The complaint focuses on protests that occurred earlier this month, and broadly alleges that police's excess tactics violated their rights and led to significant injuries.

"On June 1, 2020, people from Pittsburgh and surrounding communities assembled in the East Liberty neighborhood of the city of Pittsburgh to add their voices to these nationwide protests and seek change locally," the 42-page complaint said. "The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police responded by escalating a peaceful protest into a scene of pandemonium, panic, violence and bloodshed."

The eight plaintiffs in Rulli include a 13-year-old who was injured by the gas and temporarily separated from his parents, a trained international human rights observer who was detained overnight, and a man who had to have numerous stitches to his wrist after being dragged while handcuffed in zip ties.

The suit alleges the city officials, including Mayor Bill Peduto, violated the First and 14th amendments, as well as the Fourth Amendment's protections against excessive force and unlawful arrest.

Peduto's press office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

READ THE COMPLAINT:

Attorney Quinn Cozzens of the Abolitionist Law Center, who, along with Margaret Coleman of The Law Offices of Timothy P. O'Brien, is lead plaintiffs counsel, said it made sense to file the lawsuit as a collective action, given the number of people who may have been injured at the June 1 protest. (According to the complaint, there should be at least 100 eligible class members.)

"Because of the sheer number of people who were there and the similarity in what their experiences were …. we felt that the class action was the most appropriate because of the scope of the violence and brutality the police unleashed here," Cozzens said.

The lawsuit focuses on events that occurred at about 6:30 p.m. near the intersections of Centre and Negley avenues. According to the complaint, protesters were marching peacefully, about two hours before a citywide curfew was set to take effect.

The complaint, which included links to numerous videos and photographs of the police clashes alluded to, said police formed a line and began telling protesters to disburse. Although protesters did not disburse, they did not do anything to provoke the police either, the complaint said. However, police allegedly began shooting tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs at the protesters, allegedly injuring many.

The complaint said many protesters became trapped between approaching police lines and thick clouds of tear gas. Officers also began firing indiscriminately into the clouds of tear gas and smoke, the complaint said. According to the complaint, the decision to use tear gas and to detain the protesters increased their chances of contracting COVID-19.

Although 22 people were eventually arrested and brought to the Allegheny County jail, all of the charges against protesters that day were dropped.

The complaint also said police used disparate force on the protesters when compared to another protest that happened downtown in spring where numerous people came to voice frustrations over Gov. Tom Wolf's decision to order a statewide shutdown in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19. The complaint mentioned that many of those protesters openly carried guns, but they were not met with police violence.

"The unarmed and peaceful June 1, 2020, protesters posed less of a threat of 'substantial harm or serious inconvenience, annoyance or alarm' to the residents of the city of Pittsburgh than the heavily armed April 20 protesters," the complaint said.

Defense counsel has not yet entered an appearance in the case.