An attorney announced he鈥檚 filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Fort Lauderdale and its police department for launching tear gas and rubber bullets without provocation at a group of protestors who demonstrated against police brutality four years ago just days after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minnesota.
鈥淭he City of Fort Lauderdale Police Department did not like their message, did not like their decision to assemble, and for an hour deployed tear gas and [rubber bullets] to ensure that they could not speak anymore,鈥� attorney Michael Davis, told reporters Monday at a press conference in Fort Lauderdale, where the May 31, 2020, protests took place.
Fort Lauderdale Detective Ali Adamson told 港澳天下彩that the department does not comment on pending litigation.
Davis was joined by several protesters, including LaToya Ratlieff, who suffered a fractured eye socket after being shot in the face with a rubber bullet.
Ratlieff filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2022, a legal action that has opened the door for the latest federal class action lawsuit against the city of Fort Lauderdale and the city police department.
鈥淭he point of us being out there was to advocate to ensure that people who look like me didn鈥檛 go through this experience,鈥� Ratlieff told reporters. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that I replay often.鈥�
At the time of the 2020 protest, police claimed they were responding to 鈥渧iolent agitators鈥� allegedly jumping and pounding on the car of an officer on the corner of SE 2nd Street & 1st Ave. That officer claimed she was in imminent danger.
A Miami Herald investigation later called into question the police account of events, with that protestors around the officer鈥檚 car didn鈥檛 come near it.
The officer, Officer Stylianee Hayes, would eventually admit under oath that she hadn鈥檛 actually seen anyone jumping on her vehicle and that the scene she described in her distress call was false.
Now, a new forensic analysis from Ratlieff鈥檚 civil rights lawsuit confirmed the Herald鈥檚 investigation. Audio and video synchronized from the scene reveals that the violence from that evening did not begin with protestors, but was instead the result of an .
鈥淭hey鈥檝e taken away something from me that was supposed to be a moment where I was able to be a part of something,鈥� said Ratlieff, speaking Monday to reporters on the same corner where she was shot four years ago. 鈥淲here I was able to use my voice and we were able to collectively use our voice to say we just want better.鈥�
鈥淣ot only did they take that away from us, but they actually made it worse.鈥�
Two of the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, Jayanna Jackson and Mike Gabelus, also spoke Monday, describing what happened the night of the protest.
鈥淚 was tear gassed 鈥� I was scared,鈥� said Jackson, a mother of four who said the murder of George Floyd broke her heart. 鈥淚 came here four years ago to raise my voice against the brutality he suffered and advocate for positive change.鈥�
鈥淎s a community, we must stand so this doesn鈥檛 happen again."
Gabelus said he was also tear gassed, while assisting Ralieff that same night, helping her into a stranger鈥檚 car to go to the hospital after being shot in the face with a rubber bullet.
鈥淭he police were there, and they didn鈥檛 provide any kind of help,鈥� Gabelus said. 鈥淭his lawsuit is merely about accountability that the Fort Lauderdale Police Department doesn鈥檛 want to take.鈥�
The lawsuit seeks damages, attorney鈥檚 fees, injunctive relief and other relief the court deems appropriate against both the city and the police department.
Davis said anyone in the crowd the night of the protest and subjected to tear gas and rubber bullets can join the lawsuit as a plaintiff, and can visit the firm's or email Kuehne Davis Law at .
The protestors in Fort Lauderdale on May 31, 2020, were among tens of thousands who held protests in major cities across the country, prompting officials to deploy thousands of National Guard soldiers and enacted strict curfews in major cities.
Floyd, who was Black, , after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd鈥檚 fading cries of 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe.鈥� Chauvin was convicted of murder in 2021.
Floyd鈥檚 death touched off protests worldwide, some of which and forced a national and racism.
