A lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union in Oregon claims that federal agents and local police have violated the civil rights of volunteer doctors by using force against them, as they have attempted to assist injured protesters in Portland.
The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court in Portland on Wednesday alleges multiple incidents in which doctors faced rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray, as well as push and push. The ACLU said a crash captured on video was an egregious example.
The civil rights organization claims that the July 11 video shows two of the four plaintiffs being “attacked” by unidentified federal agents while trying to provide aid to an “incapacitated bystander.”
“It was terrifying,” said doctor Savannah Guest in the statement. “Every human being deserves help, but federal agents showed no humanity or concern.”
The lawsuit says Guest knelt down to assist the protester when she kicked a canister of active tear gas and an unidentified agent fired rubber bullets at her in response. “They beat her several times, leaving abrasions and bruises on her feet and ankles,” he says.
The ACLU said Guest and other plaintiffs clearly worked as doctors and had to identify the marks.
The lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Portland police as defendants.
The Department of Homeland Security, the US Marshals Service and the Portland Police Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A plaintiff, Christopher Wise, says he has been attacked multiple times as a volunteer in protests that have erupted since the death in custody of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. The ACLU noted in the filing that he is “a former EMS technician and one of the few black men to serve as a protest doctor in Portland.”
The lawsuit indicates that the Portland police shot him with a rubber bullet when he volunteered at a protest on June 2. He says the wound on his shin became infected, he lost seven days of work and has not yet fully recovered.
The filing says the attacks violated multiple constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and assembly, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the rights of states.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys, including outside attorney Shane Grannum, attributed the violence in part to the administration of President Donald Trump, who has encouraged the use of federal agents against protesters.
On Wednesday, Trump expanded the initiative by announcing that federal officials would be deployed to Chicago, which has been experiencing violent crimes.
“Our clients have received tear gas, pepper sprayed, beaten and shot with rubber bullets, even while administering care to the injured protesters,” Grannum said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to ensure that the Trump Administration and the Portland Police are responsible for their violent, illegal and unconstitutional actions.”
The ACLU said it will seek a court order prohibiting police and federal forces from using force against law-abiding doctors.
The lawsuit seeks attorney fees, “costs” and “other relief that the Court deems appropriate.”
It is the second ACLU lawsuit against authorities since protests erupted in Portland on May 29. On Thursday, a court is expected to hear arguments in the organization’s request to add federal agents to its successful lawsuit that prohibits law enforcement in Portland from attacking journalists.
