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The civil rights
lawsuit was filed in federal court on Sunday by the San
Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Lawyers Guild against
the city and police of Berkeley and nearby Hayward. The lawsuit
is seeking unspecified damages.
The Dec. 6, 2014 march stemmed from the decision days earlier by
grand juries in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri, to not
criminally charge police officers for killing unarmed, black
men, the complaint said.
The Berkeley demonstration was one in a flurry of such protests
to erupt in cities across the country over the past year and a
half against systemic racism and police violence under the
banner of Black Lives Matter.
"The Berkeley Police responded brutally, clubbing peaceful
protesters and journalists, often from behind, some in the head,
indiscriminately and unnecessarily; and using profligate amounts
of teargas without justification," the complaint said.
Representatives for the city of Berkeley and its police force
could be immediately reached for comment on Monday.
Among the 11 people filing the lawsuit were a freelance
photographer on assignment for the San Francisco Chronicle
newspaper, three University of California Berkeley students, and
a seminary student.
The San Francisco Chronicle described the night as chaotic with
hundreds of people chanting and marching in the streets,
clashing with police lines, and smaller groups breaking off from
the crowd to vandalize property.
Six people were arrested, including two plaintiffs named in the
lawsuit, and one police officer was injured, the Chronicle
reported.
The lawsuit said police violently handled protesters through the
evening, and used tear gas, smoke grenades and shotgun-fired
lead-filled bean bags on the large crowd.
The complaint says 20-year-old Berkeley resident Emily Power was
repeatedly clubbed and arrested unjustly.
The lawsuit claimed that the plaintiffs' constitutional rights
were violated, including the rights to free speech and equal
protection under the law.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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