Occupy L.A. Protesters Sue Over LAPD's City Hall Raid
More than a year after an invasion of LAPD troops cleared the L.A. City Hall lawn of a months-long Occupy encampment, the city and county are being sued over the action.
Jessica Wilzig
The federal, class-action suit filed on behalf of about 300 occupiers claims their "rights to assembly, association, freedom from unlawful seizure and liberty" were violated when 1,400 of cops marched in and uprooted the demonstrators Nov. 30 of last year.
A key point?
That city leaders, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, at first indicated the Occupy demonstrators were welcome to camp out on the lawn: The coast-to-coast movement was seen as a child of the left in a town dominated by Democratic politics.
The City Council even passed a motion in October of 2011 expressing support for the protest, the suit notes.
A plaintiffs' attorney, Carol Sobel, told the Los Angeles Times:
The basic rule of the 1st Amendment is that you can't change the rules halfway through the game.
The filing says the LAPD employed an unprecedented number of officers as well as militaristic "shock and awe" law enforcement that led to injuries for more than 200 occupiers.
A dollar amount was not put on the suit yet.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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