This lawsuit was filed on June 25, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The suit was made in response to police tactics used on protesters amidst the protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in May and June of 2020. Represented by private counsel and ACLU attorneys, plaintiffs in this case were Black Lives Matter 5280, a Denver-based chapter of Black Lives Matter, and nine individual plaintiffs. They brought this suit against the city and county of Denver, officers of the Denver Police Department (DPD), and officers of the Colorado State Patrol (CSP).
The plaintiffs alleged that the city and state police used a number of less-lethal weapons on them as they were peacefully protesting, including but not limited to tear gas, smoke canisters, rubber bullets, foam bullets, pepper balls, flash bang and rubber-pellet grenades, and pepper spray. According to the plaintiffs, these actions constituted various constitutional violations. They alleged that the defendants violated the plaintiffs' rights to free speech, free assembly, and freedom to petition under the First Amendment. Secondly, they alleged that defendants' actions violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments' prohibitions on unreasonable seizures and excessive use of force. The plaintiffs sought declaratory relief stating that defendants' actions were illegal, injunctive relief to prohibit defendants from engaging in the same behavior, and compensatory and punitive money damages. They also sought costs and attorney's fees.
The case was assigned to Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty. However, on July 31 the case was reassigned to Judge R. Brooke Jackson.
Several days later, the Court ordered that this case and a related case,
Cruz v. County of Denver, be consolidated. The actions were consolidated under the
Black Lives Matter 5280 docket.
In early September, the Court held a scheduling conference. The plaintiffs are to file a motion for class certification on or before March 26, 2021 and a fifteen-day jury trial is set for March 7, 2022.
On October 28, 2020, the Court on its authority consolidated another recently filed case-
Acker v. City and County of Denver- with
Black Lives Matter 5280.
Black Lives Matter 5280 was designated as the lead case. In
Acker, filed on October 22, 2020, another individual who participated in protests in Denver following the death of George Floyd sued the City and County of Denver, the Denver Chief of Police, and five Denver police officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that while assisting other protesters who had just been pepper-sprayed and hit with projectiles, he was hit with a 40mm round in the eye. Similar to the complaint in
Black Lives Matter 5280, the individual alleged that the defendants violated his rights to free speech and free assembly under the First Amendment, unlawfully retaliated against him for exercising his First Amendment rights, and used excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment.
This case is ongoing as of January 2, 2021.
Jack Hibbard - 09/29/2020
Emily Kempa - 01/02/2021
compress summary
