BATON ROUGE, La. — Black Lives Matter is a movement and not an organization that can be sued by a Louisiana police officer who was injured at a protest after a deadly police shooting, a prominent activist’s attorney claims.
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on whether to dismiss a Baton Rouge police officer’s lawsuit against Black Lives Matter and DeRay Mckesson, a Baltimore-based activist. Mckesson was one of nearly 200 protesters arrested after the July 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling, a black man shot and killed by a white officer during a struggle outside a convenience store.
Mckesson’s attorney, William Gibbens, said in a court filing that Black Lives Matter doesn’t have a governing body, dues-paying members, bylaws, “or even a central location.” At best, the lawyer argued, it’s a “community of interest.”
“However, even as a community of interest, it would be nearly impossible to ascribe a single common purpose or interest to the hundreds of thousands of different people, many with different goals and motives, who have protested, posted online, or acted under the ‘Black Lives Matter’ banner,” Gibbens wrote.
The unnamed officer claims a piece of concrete or “rock like substance” struck him in the face during a July 9 protest over Sterling’s death. The officer’s lawsuit says he lost teeth and had injuries to his jaw and brain.
The suit doesn’t accuse Mckesson of throwing anything, but it claims he “incited the violence” on behalf of Black Lives Matter. The suit also claims Mckesson “was in charge of the protests” and he was seen and heard giving orders.
The officer’s attorneys sued Mckesson individually but also served him and others with the suit as alleged “agents” of Black Lives Matter.
Donna Grodner, an attorney for the officer, is urging U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson to deny Mckesson’s requests to dismiss the case. Grodner describes Black Lives Matter as a “thriving, if not very wealthy, unincorporated association” that solicits donations and sells T-shirts for profit.
“If Black Lives Matter does not exist, it should not be raising money or collecting millions in donations,” she wrote in a court filing.
Mckesson, who declined to be interviewed Wednesday, has described himself as a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“No organization started the movement,” he said during an interview last year.
The officer suing Mckesson is identified only as “Officer John Doe” in the suit, saying the anonymity is “for his protection.” A court filing last year cited the July 2016 sniper attack that killed five Dallas police officers and a shooting 10 days later that killed three law-enforcement officers in Baton Rouge as reasons for concealing the officer’s identity.
Mckesson was arrested near Baton Rouge police headquarters on a charge of obstructing a highway. East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office wouldn’t prosecute roughly 100 protesters who were arrested on that same charge, including Mckesson.
Mckesson and other protesters sued the city of Baton Rouge and local law enforcement officials over their arrests, accusing police of using excessive force and violating their constitutional rights. Last month, a federal judge preliminarily approved a proposed settlement of the class action. Mckesson is one of nearly 80 arrested protesters who are eligible for cash payments ranging from $500 to $1,000 if the settlement gets the court’s final approval.
