AKRON, Ohio — A federal lawsuit has been filed by a civil rights law firm against the City of Akron, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Akron police officers, alleging that they "violated the constitutional rights of peaceful demonstrators protesting the 2022 Akron police shooting of young Jayland Walker."
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 24 plaintiffs, including national activists Bianca Austin, aunt of Breonna Taylor; Michael Harris; Jacob Blake Sr., father of Jacob Blake, Jr.; and Cortez Rice.
Civil rights law firm Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein filed the complaint saying that "between July 3 and 7, 2022, Akron police officers subjected peaceful demonstrators and bystanders to baseless mass arrests and unnecessary violence that included beatings and the use of teargas and pepper spray. The city then brought charges against protesters and put them through nearly a year of criminal litigation until all charges were dropped or acquitted."
The charges against protestors stemmed from demonstrations that happened following the release of bodycam footage in July 2022, after eight Akron police officers shot and killed 25-year-old Walker.
“Akron took extraordinary and unconstitutional efforts to shut down peaceful First Amendment protected protests in the wake of Jayland Walker’s death at the hands of their own police department,” said FG+G attorney Sarah Gelsomino. “The city showed an extreme disregard for the law when police officers indiscriminately arrested people throughout downtown – including activists, students, people just trying to get home, and bystanders who had nothing to do with the protests. The plaintiffs had to defend themselves for months against bogus criminal charges, brought against them for the purpose of justifying the illegal acts of the police department. No police department should be permitted to trample on people’s Constitutional rights and the City of Akron and the officers named in this suit must be held to account for the harm they caused.”
Earlier this year, Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on April 20, ordering the City of Akron to be prohibited from using chemical weapons and other less lethal weapons during peaceful protests.
Below is the full complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division:
