Special Collection: Police Violence Protests

Protestor Demands projected onto federal building

Protestor Demands

@Clypian

Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, on May 25, 2020. Nationwide protests followed, often under the banner "Black Lives Matter." This special collection brings together relevant litigation regarding city and law enforcement responses to the protests, focusing on group cases and class actions. Lawsuits covered issues including curfews, police use of chemical agents, arrests and assaults of reporters, denials of permits, excessive force and unlawful arrests, racial discrimination against protesters and media, and dispersal of protests.

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Hernandez v. City of New York

1:21-cv-07406 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Sept. 2, 2021

Case Ongoing

On September 2, 2021, twelve volunteer legal observers for the New York City Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ag…

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Gray v. City of New York

1:21-cv-06610 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Aug. 5, 2021

Case Ongoing

This suit was filed by five professional photojournalists against the City of New York and the New York City Police Department on August 5, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District o…

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SPEECH AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Dream Defenders v. DeSantis

4:21-cv-00191 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida

Filed Date: May 11, 2021

Case Ongoing

On May 11, 2021, the NAACP, ACLU of Florida, and Community Justice Project filed suit against Governor Ron DeSantis, the Attorney General of the State of Florida, the Sheriff of Leon County, the Sher…

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Gaffet v. City of Oakland

3:21-cv-02881 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: April 21, 2021

Case Ongoing

Starting in May 2020, millions of people around the country took the streets in response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department officers. Thousands did the same in Oakland, Ca…

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6:21-cv-06296 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York

Filed Date: April 5, 2021

Case Ongoing

This is a case about the systemic problematic treatment of protestors and Black and brown communities by the Rochester Police Department (RPD). On April 5, 2021, a Black resident of the City of Roche…

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Rolon v. City of New York

1:21-cv-02548 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: March 24, 2021

Case Ongoing

On March 4, 2021, six private individuals who attended racial justice protests in various neighborhoods of New York City filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ag…

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NAACP v. San Jose

4:21-cv-01705 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: March 11, 2021

Closed Date: Aug. 29, 2023

On March 11, 2021, the NAACP and several individuals filed this class-action lawsuit against the city of San Jose and public officials in the United States Northern District Court of California. The …

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Yates v. New York City

1:21-cv-01904 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: March 4, 2021

Case Ongoing

On March 4, 2021, a private plaintiff filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the City of New York and the Chief of Patrol of the NYPD in both his individu…

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Sow v. City of New York

1:21-cv-00533 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Jan. 21, 2021

Case Ongoing

Ten New York residents, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, brought this class action against the City of New York and the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) on January 21, 2…

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People of New York v. New York

1:21-cv-00322 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Jan. 14, 2021

Case Ongoing

On behalf of the residents of New York, New York Attorney General Letitia James brought this lawsuit against the New York City Police Department on January 14, 2021 in the Southern District of New Yo…

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Wood v. de Blasio

1:20-cv-10541 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Dec. 14, 2020

Case Ongoing

The plaintiff, a 31-year-old resident of Queens, New York, brought this lawsuit against the City of New York and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) on December 14, 2020 in the United States D…

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Sierra v. City of New York

1:20-cv-10291 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Dec. 7, 2020

Case Ongoing

On December 7, 2020, four private individuals who attended racial justice protests in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New Y…

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Wolfe v. Portland

3:20-cv-01882 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: Nov. 1, 2020

Case Ongoing

This case involved allegations that local, state, and federal law enforcement failed to accommodate people with disabilities during public assemblies and protests. On November 1, 2020, four Portland,…

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Payne v. de Blasio

1:20-cv-08924 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Oct. 26, 2020

Case Ongoing

This suit was filed by eleven New York residents against the City of New York and the New York City Police Department on October 26, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New Y…

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Portland v. Barr

3:20-cv-07184 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Oct. 14, 2020

Closed Date: Oct. 15, 2021

On June 26, 2020, in the midst of widespread racial justice protests challenging police conduct, President Trump signed Executive Order 13933, entitled Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and S…

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Williams v. San Francisco

CGC-20-587008 | California state trial court

Filed Date: Oct. 7, 2020

Case Ongoing

This case is about law enforcement use of illegally accessed real-time surveillance footage to monitor demonstrators following the killing of George Floyd. The plaintiffs, Black and Latino residents …

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Zoe Adberg v. City of Seattle

20-2-14351-1 | Washington state trial court

Filed Date: Sept. 25, 2020

Closed Date: Jan. 23, 2024

This is a case about the use of excessive force against protesters during the 2020 Black Lives Matter/George Floyd protests. On September 25, 2020, protesters filed a complaint against the City of Se…

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Detroit Will Breathe v. Detroit

2:20-cv-12363 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Filed Date: Aug. 31, 2020

Case Ongoing

This lawsuit was filed on August 31, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The plaintiffs included Detroit Will Breathe (DWB) and fourteen individuals. The plaintiffs,…

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Pettibone v. Trump

3:20-cv-01464 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: Aug. 26, 2020

Closed Date: Jan. 20, 2025

Portland protestors sued DHS and US Marshals for unlawful detention and use of excessive force during July 2020 protests.

Samaha v. City of Minneapolis

0:20-cv-01715 | U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Filed Date: Aug. 6, 2020

Case Ongoing

Seven individuals who protested in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd filed this putative class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on August…

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Scott v. Louisville Metro Government

3:20-cv-00535 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky

Filed Date: July 30, 2020

Case Ongoing

On July 30, 2020, six individual plaintiffs and the Kentucky Alliance Against Racial and Political Repression (KAARPR) filed this putative class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for…

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American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon v. City of Portland

Oregon state trial court

Filed Date: July 29, 2020

Closed Date: April 8, 2022

This complaint was brought in the County of Multnomah Circuit Court for the State of Oregon on July 29, 2020. The suit was brought by the ACLU of Oregon and an anonymous individual plaintiff ("Protes…

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Levy Armstrong v. City of Minneapolis

0:20-cv-01645 | U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Filed Date: July 28, 2020

Closed Date: April 6, 2023

This civil rights suit arose out of protests in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. On July 28, 2020, four prote…

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Don't Shoot Portland v. Wolf

1:20-cv-02040 | U.S. District Court for the District of District of Columbia

Filed Date: July 27, 2020

Closed Date: Nov. 15, 2021

This complaint was filed on July 27, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs were a group of women and women-founded organizations that were protesting in solidar…

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Wise v. Portland

3:20-cv-01193 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: July 24, 2020

Case Ongoing

This lawsuit was filed on July 22, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon by four individual plaintiffs represented by the ACLU Foundation of Oregon and private counsel. The compl…

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Black Lives Matter v. Wolf

1:20-cv-04319 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Filed Date: July 23, 2020

Closed Date: Feb. 22, 2021

This complaint was filed on July 23, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The suit was filed by a number of political and legal organizations, as well as a news medi…

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Western States Center v. Department of Homeland Security

3:20-cv-01175 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: July 21, 2020

Closed Date: March 15, 2022

This lawsuit, filed on July 21, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, was brought by the Western State Center (a public benefit corporation), the First Unitarian Church of Portl…

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1:20-cv-01922 | U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Filed Date: July 17, 2020

Case Ongoing

This class-action lawsuit was filed on July 1, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The suit came in response to police tactics used to quell protests in Denver that followed…

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Rosenblum v. John Does 1-10

3:20-cv-01161 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: July 17, 2020

Closed Date: Sept. 16, 2020

This lawsuit was filed by the State of Oregon through Ellen Rosenblum, the Oregon Attorney General, on July 17, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The State sued the U.S. Dep…

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Uniformed Fire Officers Association v. DeBlasio

1:20-cv-05441 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: July 14, 2020

Closed Date: April 13, 2021

This case was originally filed on July 14, 2020 in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County. Plaintiffs were a collection of New York emergency services associations, including the…

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Smith v. City of Philadelphia

2:20-cv-03431 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: July 14, 2020

Case Ongoing

This is a case about the Philadelphia Police Department's (PPD) use of force against peaceful protesters during the summer 2020 racial justice protests that followed the murder of George Floyd. On J…

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Alsaada v. City of Columbus

2:20-cv-03431 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

Filed Date: July 8, 2020

Case Ongoing

Thirteen demonstrators protesting George Floyd's murder filed this lawsuit on July 8, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against the city of Columbus, Ohio and various …

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NAACP v. Peterman

1:20-cv-00613 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina

Filed Date: July 2, 2020

Case Ongoing

The complaint for this case was filed on July 2, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. The complaint challenged an ordinance in Graham, North Carolina that forced…

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Rulli v. Pittsburgh

2:20-cv-00965 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: June 29, 2020

Closed Date: March 24, 2023

On June 29, 2020, six named plaintiffs filed this class-action lawsuit against the city of Pittsburgh and various elected and police officials in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The case was as…

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Index Newspapers LLC v. City of Portland

3:20-cv-01035 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: June 28, 2020

Case Ongoing

This case involved allegations that the Portland police assaulted news reporters, photographers, legal observers, and other neutrals who were documenting the police’s violent response to protests ove…

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Jeffery v. City of New York

1:20-cv-02843 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Filed Date: June 26, 2020

Case Ongoing

On June 26, 2020, three private individuals filed this class action lawsuit against the City of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and fifty police officers of unknown identities.…

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Crane v. Fort Wayne

1:20-cv-00240 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

Filed Date: June 26, 2020

Case Ongoing

On June 26, 2020, three individuals filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. The suit arose out of the protests that swept the nation following the police k…

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Epps v. City and County of Denver

1:20-cv-01878 | U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Filed Date: June 25, 2020

Case Ongoing

This lawsuit was filed on June 25, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The suit responded to police tactics used on protesters in May and June of 2020, after police killed …

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Chicago Freedom School v. Chicago

1:20-cv-03718 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Filed Date: June 25, 2020

Closed Date: Aug. 17, 2020

This lawsuit was brought on June 25, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. This complaint was filed in response to police conduct amidst the protests that followed th…

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Hunters Capital v. Seattle

2:20-cv-00983 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Filed Date: June 24, 2020

Closed Date: April 17, 2023

This putative class-action lawsuit was filed on June 24, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Represented by private counsel, plaintiffs were residents, tenants, pr…

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Indy 10 Black Lives Matter v. Indianapolis

1:20-cv-01660 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: June 18, 2020

Closed Date: Dec. 14, 2020

This lawsuit was filed on June 18, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The suit was filed in response to police tactics used to quell protests in Indianapolis that e…

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Ruiz v. City of Sacramento

2:20-cv-01229 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

Filed Date: June 18, 2020

Case Ongoing

This class action lawsuit was filed on June 18, 2020 in the U.S. District for the Eastern District of California. The suit came after police in Sacramento, California allegedly used illegal tactics i…

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Buchanan v. Trump

1:20-cv-01542 | U.S. District Court for the District of District of Columbia

Filed Date: June 11, 2020

Case Ongoing

Peaceful protesters fileclawsuit against DC law enforcement for 1A and 4A violations

Anti Police-Terror Project v. Oakland

3:20-cv-03866 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: June 11, 2020

Case Ongoing

This class action lawsuit was filed on June 11, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs were the Anti-Police Terror Project, Community Ready Corps, and sev…

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Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County v. City of Seattle

2:20-cv-00887 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Filed Date: June 9, 2020

Case Ongoing

On June 9, 2020, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County brought this lawsuit against the City of Seattle in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The complaint arose out of …

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Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles

2:20-cv-05027 | U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Filed Date: June 5, 2020

Case Ongoing

On June 5th, 2020, Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles (BLMLA) filed this class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.BLMLA was represented by the National Law…

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Don't Shoot Portland v. City of Portland

3:20-cv-00917 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: June 5, 2020

Case Ongoing

COVID-19 Summary: On June 5, 2020, a non-profit corporation advocating for social and racial justice and individual citizens filed this class action suit for violations of their First and Fourth Amen…

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Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump

1:20-cv-01469 | U.S. District Court for the District of District of Columbia

Filed Date: June 4, 2020

Case Ongoing

Black Lives Matter - D.C. and several individual protestors brought this lawsuit on June 4, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the District of D.C. in response to President Trump's use of military …

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1:20-cv-01616 | U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Filed Date: June 4, 2020

Closed Date: Sept. 25, 2023

This class-action suit was brought in Colorado state court on June 4, 2020. That same day, the case was removed by the defendants to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The complain…

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Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles v. Garcetti

2:20-cv-04940 | U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Filed Date: June 3, 2020

Closed Date: July 7, 2020

This lawsuit, brought in the the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, was filed on June 3, 2020. The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys from the ACLU of Southern Californ…

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Goyette v. Minneapolis

0:20-cv-01302 | U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Filed Date: June 2, 2020

Case Ongoing

This lawsuit was filed on June 2, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The case arose out of the 2020 protests that began after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. The p…

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Williams v. Minneapolis

0:20-cv-01303 | U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Filed Date: June 2, 2020

Closed Date: Sept. 15, 2021

This class-action lawsuit was brought on June 2, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota under § 1983. The suit arose out of the protests that engulfed the nation following the…

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Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department

27-CV-23-4177 | Minnesota state trial court

Filed Date: June 1, 2020

Case Ongoing

After a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd on May 25, 2020, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) opened an investigation into whether Minneapolis (the City) and its police depa…

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United States v. City of Portland

3:12-cv-02265 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: Dec. 17, 2012

Case Ongoing

This lawsuit was the culmination of an 18 month-long investigation of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcemen…

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United States v. City of Seattle

2:12-cv-01282 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Filed Date: July 27, 2012

Case Ongoing

On March 31, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division opened an investigation of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcemen…

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SPEECH AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Lowden v. Clare County

1:09-cv-11209 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Filed Date: April 1, 2009

Closed Date: Nov. 18, 2011

On April 1, 2009, two residents of Clare County, Michigan brought a lawsuit against Clare County and two sheriff's deputies in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. T…

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