November, 19 2020, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Email:,press@lawyerscommittee.org
Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump Must Proceed, Defendants Need to Be Held Accountable
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and co-counsel filed an opposition motion to dismiss last night in Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump, after several defendants filed motions to dismiss the case.
WASHINGTON
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and co-counsel filed an opposition motion to dismiss last night in Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump, after several defendants filed motions to dismiss the case. The case seeks to hold Attorney General William Barr and other law enforcement officers personally accountable for violating the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of peaceful protesters, and claims they participated in an unlawful conspiracy to deprive protesters of their civil rights. The following is a statement from David Brody, an attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
"The perpetrators of this state-sanctioned violence must be held accountable for their unconstitutional assault on nonviolent racial justice demonstrators. Our own government, in front of the White House, deliberately engaged in police brutality against Black Americans, at a protest of police brutality against Black Americans. The civil rights community will do everything we can to ensure justice for those who were standing up to intolerance."
Background:
The original lawsuit, which was filed on June 4, claims that the protesters in Lafayette Square Park were unjustly attacked by federal officers from multiple agencies, the national guard, D.C. police, and police from Arlington County, Virginia. The protesters were beaten with clubs and shields, shot with rubber bullets, knocked to the ground, and tear-gassed. The national Lawyers' Committee is representing Black Lives Matter D.C., as well as eight individual demonstrators, including two children, who were assaulted by law enforcement.
Read the full motion here.
The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today.
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"My child is human!" said Nasbeebah Hajjaj, a Palestinian-American woman who held up her 16-month-old son, Hamza. "Stop killing Palestinian children!"
The anti-war group CodePink said Hajjaj immigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was two months old, and has lost approximately 20 family members to Israel's bombardment of Gaza since October.
The group targeted Austin's testimony a month after the Biden administration released its 2025 budget request—a proposal that includes $1.1 trillion in military-related spending. Despite growing calls from U.S. lawmakers and rights advocates, the White House has not announced conditions for military aid to Israel, which has been widely accused of human rights violations as it has assaulted Gaza and blocked humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians.
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At least 13,000 children have been killed, and the United Nations reported in February that 70% of those killed overall have been women and children—even as Israel and the U.S. have insisted Israeli forces are targeting Hamas.
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While Hajjaj held up her son at Wednesday's hearing, another protester, identified by CodePink as Helen, addressed the defense secretary.
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González found that the five largest military contracts to major tech firms between 2018 and 2022 "had contract ceilings totaling at least $53 billion combined."
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The risk of conflicts of interest increases as military-dependent tech companies go public.
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About 4,000 Volkswagen workers in Tennessee are voting on whether to unionize with the United Auto Workers. Labor journalist @hamiltonnolan says it's the most important union vote in years and could be the "first domino" in a wider push to organize the auto industry in the South. pic.twitter.com/RWFnO5KznI
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) April 17, 2024
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