Accountability
Protestor injured by rubber bullets in 2020 protests sues Denver police
A man who was struck in the face and chest by less-lethal projectiles during Denver’s 2020 racial justice protests has sued the city and several police officers, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
Gabriel Schlough participated in the protests in Denver prompted by George Floyd’s murder in May 2020. Schlough was protesting alongside others on May 31, 2020, when he was shot in the face by a Kinetic Impact Projectile, rounds often used for crowd control, according to the lawsuit filed on Monday in U.S. District Court.
Schlough said he was also serving as a protest medic, providing aid to people who were struck by projectiles, according to the lawsuit. The protests began on May 28 and continued for weeks.
Schlough said he tried to help a woman who had been sprayed with tear gas, according to the lawsuit, when he was shot in the face and chest with kinetic impact projectiles, which are also known as rubber and plastic bullets, without warning. The case accuses officers Zackary Petrick and Julie Weinhemier of firing the projectiles.
The lawsuit also names Police Chief Paul Pazen, Cmdr. Patrick Phelan and Lts. Vince Porter and J.D. Williams. Phelan authorized the use of kinetic impact projectiles throughout the 2020 racial justice protests, according to the case. Porter and Williams supervised officers in the area Schlough was shot, the complaint says.
Denver failed to properly train officers on the use of kinetic impact projectiles and on crowd control, as well as to know that less-lethal weapons can’t be used to discourage protected First Amendment activity, the complaint says.
The case also seeks to hold Denver accountable for the officers’ conduct because the city did not provide additional training to officers after the use of force against Schlough, and condemned their alleged unconstitutional conduct, according to the complaint.
Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.
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The one thing people need to remember is that George Floyd was not murdered. When one looks at the real facts of the case George Floyd effectively committed suicide to avoid having the drugs in his possession illegally found on him. And remember, cities ending up dealing with riots that many claimed were protests.