A federal lawsuit is accusing Chicago officers of committing civil rights violations against dozens of anti-police protesters this summer.
“While the plaintiffs were exercising their First Amendment rights to protest anti-Black police violence, Chicago police officers brutally hit them with batons, including strikes to the head, punched them in the face, tackled them to the ground, kneed and kicked them, dragged them through the streets, used chemical agents on them and kettled them,” attorney Vanessa del Valle said during a news conference Thursday.
The 203-page lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court on behalf of 60 people who claim they were victimized by officers during protests.
CPD Supt. David Brown and 20 other officers were named as defendants, though more officers will likely be named as defendants as the suit progresses, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Mayor Lori Lightfoot may also be named a defendant, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
“We have not been served, but it is important to remember that these are allegations at this stage and not proof,” Kathleen Fieweger, a spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department, said in an emailed statement. “We will review the complaint thoroughly, and each allegation it contains, once we have been served and respond through the courts as appropriate.”