Portland protester says she was shot in the eye with a munition in latest lawsuit against federal police

PORTLAND — A Portland protester is suing federal police after she was shot in the eye during a racial justice demonstration last July.

The lawsuit is one of a series that a group of attorneys, known as the Portland Lawyers for Black Lives Matter, have filed against federal officers over their conduct at the protests last summer in downtown Portland.

Angie Mead was with a group of protesters on July 26 near theMark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse when she was trying to disperse after federal police sprayed tear gas at another retreating group, her lawyers said. While walking away from the group, Mead turned back to look at the officers rushing up behind her and an officer shot Mead in the right eye without warning from about 20 feet away, the lawsuit alleges.

Mead had been wearing swim goggles when she was shot as a precaution for the “combat tactics used by federal officers from reports on previous protests,” according toMead’s attorneys.

Mead immediately lost vision in the right eye, was taken to OHSU Hospital for immediate examination and later returned for surgery to repair a hole in her right retina, according to her attorneys.

“There is no lawful purpose in aiming a high-velocity so-called ‘less lethal’ projectile at the head or face of a person posing no threat of violence,” Gabriel Chase, one of Mead’s attorneys, said in a statement.

According to her lawyers, Mead is a recent Whitman College graduate with degrees in music and computer science.

Others who have filed lawsuits against federal police include a law school graduate with the “Wall of Moms” group and a videographer.