Thousands march in Washington, D.C. protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota at the hands of local police, on Saturday, June 6, 2020. Derek Chauvin, the police officer that was caught on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes as the unarmed, handcuffed man laid flat and unable to breathe, has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Mass demonstrations have taken place nationwide since the incident took place. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

'Attempt to Intimidate': City's Countersuit vs. BLM Protestors Could Chill Free Speech Nationally, Observers Say

"The counterclaim in this case is a strategy to silence racial justice advocates that you might expect from segregationists in the South in the 1950s," one law professor said of a recent action lodged by the city of Detroit against Black Lives Matter protestors alleging civil conspiracy.

February 09, 2021 at 03:41 PM

11 minute read

Jason Grant
Staff reporter

The original version of this story was published on Law.com

In her almost four decades of bringing civil rights lawsuits targeting police abuse and misconduct, Detroit-based lawyer Julie Hurwitz said she had never seen the "level of gratuitous violence and acts of aggression toward peaceful protestors" by police that she witnessed in Detroit last summer.