Lawsuit filed for excessive force during East Liberty protests in June

PITTSBURGH — Attorneys for an unidentified person who they say was a spectator at the East Liberty protests on June 1 filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Pittsburgh, alleging excessive force after they say their client suffered severe injuries when the person was shot in the head by police.

The complaint, filed Monday by attorneys Paul Jubas and Max Petrunya, states that the client was observing the protest from the side of the street as protesters peacefully marched through East Liberty in Pittsburgh, before officers used “tanks, rubber bullets, military grade high-frequency noise weaponry, smoke grenades and chemical weapons” to break up the protest.

“Early in their offensive, the Pittsburgh Police shot our client in the side of the head, even though he was standing off to the side of the street observing,” according to a news release from the attorneys.

Numerous protesters then carried the person from the side of the street to a parking garage with a fractured skull. The release said some protesters then attempted to get help for the person, and were pepper-sprayed in the face by police.

“Although emergency services were present on the scene, they did not provide treatment to our client. Emergency services at the scene were, inexplicably, only present to serve the Pittsburgh Police,” the release states.

The person suffered a cranial fracture, intercranial bleeding, an aneurysm, and multiple surgeries, the release states.

“Instead of protecting and serving the people of Pittsburgh on June 1, 2020, the Pittsburgh Police conducted a military-grade search and destroy mission to crush peaceful and unarmed Black Lives Matter protesters,” the release states. “The unconstitutional, malicious, and criminal actions of the Pittsburgh Police on this date nearly cost our client his life. Our client’s identity remains anonymous for his protection from the Pittsburgh Police, who arrested and filed specious charges against protesters and observers to attempt to justify their unlawful and unconstitutional actions.”

The release also draws disparities between the police response to the East Liberty protest to that of “heavily-armed, right-wing protesters on numerous occasions in this city.”

“The recent insurrection by right-wing protesters in our Capitol exposed the undercurrent of White Supremacy in this Country’s law enforcement,” the release states. “Although police departments in this country will assault peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters with military-grade weaponry, these same police departments will not only assist violent right-wing protests, police officers take part in these protests. The blatant and violent white supremacy underlying this country and City’s police departments can no longer be tolerated.”

The city declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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