Civil Rights Lawsuit Filed Against DC Police for Constitutional Violations at Ceasefire Protest at the Democratic National Committee Office in DC.

Washington, DC – On August 16, 2024, Civil Rights Corps filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of nine plaintiffs to seek redress for violations of their constitutional rights during a demonstration last November in support of a ceasefire in Palestine. The complaint alleges that police officers from Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the United States Capitol Police (USCP) assaulted and battered plaintiffs without warning, provocation, or a dispersal order, and in violation of their First and Fourth Amendment rights. 

Per the complaint, on November 15, 2023, the plaintiffs were part of a large, multiracial, multifaith group of individuals who assembled next to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Washington D.C. to urge their representatives to join a ceasefire resolution championed by U.S. Representative Cori Bush — a position that nearly 80% of Democratic Party voters support. The lawsuit states that the plaintiffs clearly demarcated themselves as protesters engaged in First Amendment activity by wearing matching “Ceasefire Now” t-shirts, carrying signs urging a ceasefire, and singing and chanting for a ceasefire. However, the complaint alleges that within minutes of plaintiffs’ assembly in front of the DNC building, MPD and USCP officers descended upon them en masse and immediately began violently dispersing the protest. 

“Even in the shadow of the militarized crackdown on protests of police brutality in 2020, I was completely unprepared for the assault that answered our pleas for peace that night on the steps of the DNC headquarters,” said Sam Rise (they/them), lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The complaint alleges that officers forcefully strangled, pepper sprayed, sexually assaulted, threw, dragged, and stomped on plaintiffs. The complaint also alleges that officers physically and symbolically stifled plaintiffs’ speech in support of a ceasefire, going as far as strangulating two plaintiffs with their own kefiyyehs.

“MPD and USCP’s brutal response to the protest was aimed to suppress plaintiffs’ speech in support of Palestinian life,” said Sumayya Saleh, Senior Attorney at Civil Rights Corps, “as the officers specifically and unambiguously targeted plaintiffs’ expressions of solidarity with Palestine.” 

Rise, et al. v. Bagshaw, et al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks a declaration that defendants violated Plaintiff’s rights under the United States Constitution, D.C. common law, and D.C.’s First Amendment Assemblies Act. The lawsuit names as defendants a number of “John Doe” police officers from MPD and USCP, as well as supervisors from each police force, including MPD Commander Jason Bagshaw.

This incident is part of the larger pattern of police repression of protests in support of Palestine and a ceasefire. For example, in anticipation of the March on the DNC, Chicago’s Police Superintendent issued an ominous warning that incorrectly claimed that “Protesting peacefully doesn’t always mean you’re protected by the First Amendment.” 

“Statements like this are antithetical to the First Amendment and invite the kind of assault and blatant disregard that MPD and USCP inflicted on the plaintiffs, causing lasting physical and psychological trauma,” said Ms. Saleh. 

MPD has a history of disparate policing of First Amendment assemblies; as the D.C. Council itself has recognized, the amount of violence they deploy varies depending on the message and the political context. Right-wing protesters are often met with less hostility — MPD has provided police escorts for white nationalists and even shared confidential information about investigations with the Proud Boys. In contrast, progressive and racial justice protesters have been met with chemical weapons and violence or worse. In fact, a former MPD detective, and current police union chairman, was recently accused of working with a federal prosecutor to manipulate evidence in order to prosecute anti-Trump protestors. Furthermore, racial justice activists in Washington D.C. view Defendant Jason Bagshaw as “an overly-involved, threatening and violent officer” and have been calling on MPD to fire him for years. 

“The violence that the lawsuit alleges MPD and USCP inflicted against people speaking in support of Palestinian lives mirrors the violence that police inflicted against Black people speaking in support of Black lives in 2014 and 2020,” said Kiah Duggins, Attorney at Civil Rights Corps. “Violent police suppression of First Amendment activity is a stain on democracy.” 

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Civil Rights Corps is a nonprofit organization dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the United States’ legal system. Through innovative civil rights litigation, advocacy, and public education, we aim to re-sensitize the legal system and our culture to the injustice and brutality that characterizes the contemporary U.S. legal system. We work to shift power to community-led movements, particularly those led by Black, brown and poor people who are most impacted by the unjust legal system, in order to create structural change.

Media contact: Madhvi Venkatraman, media@civilrightscorps.org