CNN interviewed two of the plaintiffs, Christopher Durkee and Savannah Guest, Tuesday night near the downtown Portland federal building, which has been the epicenter of the ongoing protests for more than 55 days.
Durkee, a trained EMT and mental health professional, and Guest, a former emergency medical services volunteer, said they came to Portland from outside the area to help treat protesters who are periodically injured during routine clashes. between protesters and law enforcement officers.
They described an incident since early July 12, which was captured on video and posted on social media. In the video, the two doctors with red crosses on their clothes appear to be treating an injured man on the ground as a line of law enforcement officers approaches them.
Durkee said he and Guest were called by protesters to help treat the man, and when officers trying to clear the area of protesters approached them, the two volunteer doctors indicated that they intended to stay and treat the lying man. on a sidewalk.
In the viral video, which has sparked widespread outrage in Portland and on social media, the pair of volunteer doctors are seen walking backwards as a camouflage tactical officer directs them to retreat. Then another officer is seen running from the side and pushing one of the medics to the ground.
An officer begins swinging a baton in the air around the medics and then repeatedly hits the baton on the cement.
“As the officers approached, we started to back down while we were ordered to do so,” Durkee told CNN, adding that he was later pushed to the ground by police. “My partner also fell to the ground and my partner was repeatedly beaten with a cane.”
Volunteer doctors said officers fired tear gas into the area where the man lay on the ground, dispersing the group of protesters who had gathered.
It is unclear from the video whether the officers involved in the incident were members of a federal agency or local police.
CNN has contacted the Department of Homeland Security, the US Marshals, and the Portland Police Office for comment.
While the protests during the day have been overwhelmingly peaceful, marked by marches, unity gatherings, and even song-singing, nightly clashes between some protesters and federal officials have resulted in repeated vandalism by the U.S. court in downtown Portland and tear gas from protesters.
The video showing doctors pushed by officers is not the only recent encounter to generate widespread controversy and allegations of excessive use of force by police.
When CNN contacted him, a spokesman for the Portland Police Office said his officers were not involved in the incident.
Customs and Border Protection also told CNN that their officers were not involved. CNN contacted the US Department of Homeland Security and sheriffs for comment, but did not receive a response.
This week’s ACLU lawsuit, alleging that local and federal officials violated the constitutional rights of four people, calls for “monetary damages and a possible injunction” so that volunteer doctors “can continue their efforts to help protesters “says the complaint.
“Addressing protest doctors limits their ability to support protesters with medical care,” the complaint says. The ACLU argues that the four doctors “want to continue treating the protesters’ injuries and doing their part to create a safer protest environment.”
“As long as people need help, we will be here,” Guest told CNN. “That is the kind of role that we have accepted as doctors, and that many people as doctors have accepted, regardless of whether or not we are mistreated.”
CNN’s Geneva Sands, Priscilla Alvarez, Greg Clary, Manu Raju, Jennifer Selva, Hollie Silverman, David Shortell and Amir Vera contributed to this report.
.
