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 U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. They were represented by attorneys from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the ACLU of Kentucky Foundation, and private counsel. They brought suit against the Louisville and Jefferson County Metro Government, the Mayor of Louisville, the Interim Chief of Louisville Police, and over a dozen Louisville Police Department officers. The complaint arose out of the protests that swept the country following the police killings of George Floyd in May of 2020 and of Breonna Taylor (by Louisville police) in March of 2020. The complaint alleged that during these protests in Louisville, protesters were met with police using tear gas, pepper balls, flash bang grenades, and, in at least one case resulting in a fatality, live ammunition. The complaint argued that these actions represented violations of the U.S. Constitution and common law tort law. Specifically, the complaint argued that the defendants' First Amendment right to free speech and assembly and their Fourth Amendment protection against excessive force. The complaint also argued that defendants' actions constituted common law battery and assault.

The case was assigned to District Judge Charles R. Simpson III.

By August 25, 2020, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. This motion was denied the very next day.

Plaintiffs submitted an amended complaint on September 11, 2020. The amended complaint added a plaintiff but left the substance of the complaint unchanged.

The case is ongoing as of October 12, 2020.

Jack Hibbard - 10/12/2020


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