Pay for the Bullets

Date: 30 August 2014 - 21:08

News ID: ۴۴۷۲

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of people caught up in unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, after a white officer killed a black teenager, sued local officials on Thursday, alleging civil rights violations through arrests and police assaults with rubber bullets and tear gas.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, says law enforcement met a broad public outcry over the Aug. 9 killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown with "militaristic displays of force and weaponry,” (and) engaged U.S. citizens "as if they were war combatants.”

The lawsuit seeks a total of $40 million on behalf of six plaintiffs, including a 17-year-old boy who was with his mother in a fast-food restaurant when they were arrested. Each of the plaintiffs was caught up in interactions with police over a period from Aug. 11 to 13, the suit alleges.

Neither the city, county nor police departments had any immediate comment on the lawsuit.

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"It is doubtful justice would be carried out in a U.S court,” remarked my friend Jamsheed and added,” Probably the outcome of the lawsuit would be the plaintiffs being sentenced to pay for the six bullets that were used to kill Michael Brown.”

Najafi