Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson files suit against Baton Rouge

Suit accuses police of using a ‘militarized and aggressive manner’
in arresting Mckesson and 200 others during protests following
Alton Sterling’s death

Matthew Teague
Thursday 4 August 2016 21.23 BST

Activist DeRay Mckesson, a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement, is suing the city of Baton Rouge following his arrest last month during a demonstration against police violence in the city.

The protests followed the shooting death on 5 July of 37-year-old Alton Sterling during an encounter with two white police officers. Four days later, Mckesson and almost 200 other people were arrested during the height of demonstrations.

Mckesson’s class action suit, filed in federal court, accuses police of approaching protesters in a “militarized and aggressive manner”, according to the Associated Press, while wearing riot gear and using armored vehicles. Officers pointed their weapons at protesters, the suit says.

A few days after the mass arrests, the Baton Rouge police announced they would not be charging about half of the people arrested, including Mckesson, who is an employee at Baltimore public schools. They also defended the military-style response to protesters, saying they had uncovered specific threats against police.

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