12 plaintiffs are taking the city of Denver to trial in federal court for how its police officers responded to the massive protests downtown in 2020.
On the second day of protests of police brutality in downtown Denver two years ago, police tear-gassed Hollis Lyman and shot a pepper ball through her homemade sign listing the names of Black men killed by police, leaving a quarter-sized hole in Philando Castile‘s handwritten name.
It’s both the first civil trial to result from the slew of lawsuits filed against Denver following the demonstrations and, according to the ACLU of Colorado, the first such case stemming from the Floyd protests to go before a jury anywhere in the country. “These were not the actions of rogue officers,” protesters’ attorney Tim Macdonald said in his opening statement. “The evidence will show it was Denver’s policies, practices and customs that led to the violations of plaintiffs’ rights.”
“They came to protest police violence and were met with police violence because the police did not like what they had to say,” said Makeba Rutahindurwa, attorney for the protesters. More than 70 officers were injured responding to the protests, where people threw rocks, fireworks and bottles at police.