The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of volunteer doctors Wednesday, alleging that local and federal police officials have attacked and attacked them in protests in Portland, Oregon.
“In well-documented incidents, police and federal agents brutally attacked volunteer doctors with rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, batons, and explosions,” the ACLU said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues that police attacks on volunteer doctors violate Amendments One and 14, and the ACLU is seeking a court order that prohibits police forces from targeting and attacking doctors again.
Savannah Guest, a volunteer physician and plaintiff in the case, was seen in a video “being attacked by federal agents as Guest provided help to a disabled viewer,” according to the ACLU. Guest called the interaction “scary.”
“Every human being deserves help, but federal agents showed no humanity or concern,” Guest said in the ACLU statement.
Spokesmen for the Portland Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Marshals Service were not immediately available for comment.
This is the second lawsuit that the Oregon ACLU has filed against the city of Portland and the Trump administration over officials’ response to the protests. The ACLU filed a lawsuit last week after DHS and US Marshals services deployed agents to quell the protests in Portland.
Democrats, including Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, have condemned the use of federal agents in the city. Wheeler has argued that federal officials are generating more violence in the city.
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