Judge Rules Injured Officer Cannot Sue Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter is a social movement and therefore can't be sued, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Black Lives Matter is a social movement and therefore can't be sued, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

A Baton Rouge police officer anonymously sued Black Lives Matter and DeRay Mckesson, a prominent activist in the movement, after being injured by a rock thrown during a protest over a deadly police shooting in Baton Rouge last year.

But U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson dismissed the officer's suit and ruled that Black Lives Matter is not an entity capable of being sued, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The judge also concluded that the officer's own claims demonstrated that Mckesson "solely engaged in protected speech" at the July 9, 2016, demonstration, which followed the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling.

The lawsuit dismissed Thursday didn't accuse Mckesson of throwing the rock that injured the officer's jaw and teeth, but it claimed he "incited the violence" and "was in charge of the protest," and that he was seen and heard giving orders.

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