Black Lives Matter activist sues Baton Rouge over arrest during Alton Sterling protest

A prominent Black Lives Matter activist and two other protesters arrested last month while demonstrating over the shooting death of Alton Sterling by a white Baton Rouge police officer filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against several local law enforcement agency heads and the city-parish.

DeRay Mckesson, of Baltimore, Maryland, who was active in the Ferguson, Missouri, protests that followed the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown; Gloria La Riva, of San Francisco, California; and Louisianian Kira Marrero are seeking damages for what they call their "unlawful mass arrests" in Baton Rouge. They also allege officers used excessive force.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed against Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr., East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson, Mayor-President Kip Holden, and the city-parish.

"Defendants employed unconstitutional tactics to disturb, disrupt, infringe upon and criminalize plaintiffs and class members' constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly," the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, states.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/alton_sterling/article_426ae8e2-5a72-11e6-825f-a7d965f54843.html