We have filed tort claims for fourteen people who were injured by the Berkeley Police and assisting agencies during December 6 and 7, 2014, demonstrations over the failures to indict the officers who killed Eric Garner and Michael Brown. The tort claims are the first step toward bringing a lawsuit for an injunction to stop the police misconduct and monetary compensation for our clients. Our clients include a Chronicle photographer and a minister who were clubbed on the heads for no apparent reason; a 55 year old Berkeley Rent Board counselor who was clubbed in the back from behind while she was urging other demonstrators to give the police space; and a visitor from Los Angeles who happened on the demonstration and had been there for only minutes when he was shot with a “less lethal” munition, fracturing his knee. Rachel Lederman and Jim Chanin are representing the demonstrators and journalists on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild. Read the Mercury News article here.
