CHARLOTTE — Nearly six years after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department deployed tear gas on protestors in Uptown Charlotte, those protestors were heard in Mecklenburg County court.
Video from Queen City Nerve and Chopper 9 SkyZoom showed CMPD deploy tear gas on protestors at 4th and College streets on June 2, 2020. Dozens of protestors sued the city and CMPD, saying they were trapped and gassed in this incident.
Footage presented in court Friday captured the chaos from multiple vantage points, including police helicopters, body cameras, witness recordings, and the city’s Real Time Crime Center.
They are arguing that this use of force was unjustified because they were peacefully protesting at the time, posed no threat, and the police didn’t give them enough options to escape the tear gas. They say CMPD and the city should be held liable for negligence, battery, and assault
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“This was just plainly unlawful,” attorney Alex Heroy said. “The police cannot trap, gas, and shoot peaceful protesters without any provocation without threats of violence.”
CMPD and the city want this case tossed out and claim they aren’t liable. They argue that the protesters had two points of exit to escape the tear gas. They also argue officers have immunity unless it can be proven they were acting with malice. They say protesters who remained on scene after dispersal orders were negligent, and officers being hit with bottles and other items prove it wasn’t a peaceful protest, even if these trapped protesters weren’t necessarily the ones who threw them.
In the years that have followed between this protest and now, CMPD has agreed to stop using tear gas for crowd control. The attorneys for the protesters want the city and CMPD to go a step further
“The defendant officers in the city are liable to our clients for the way they handled the protests that there was no threat, no riot, no reason to use force at the time that they used it,” attorney Luke Largess said.
There are really three potential outcomes:
- If the judge grants summary judgment for protesters, the case moves to trial for damages only, not merits. Police can appeal.
- If the judge grants summary judgment for the police and city, the case is closed. The protesters can take the case to the Court of Appeals.
- If the judge denies both motions, the case will go to trial, and the jury will have to sort everything out.
Judge Edwin Wilson is weighing the arguments and will make a ruling in the coming weeks.
The trial is set for this fall.
Attorneys for CMPD and the city of Charlotte did not comment after the hearing.
VIDEO: More people join lawsuit accusing CMPD of excessive force during protests
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