Protesters file lawsuit, alleging Seattle, state didn't act to protect them

SEATTLE — At least 11 plaintiffs on Friday filed a civil lawsuit in King County Superior Court, accusing Seattle and Washington state officials from failing to provide adequate protection for them from out of control drivers or police officers while they were demonstrating.

Attorneys say it could end up being 60 plaintiffs once a legal waiting period expires in two months.

Speaking under overcast skies at Jimi Hendrix Park and echoing the allegations contained in the civil lawsuit, several dozen people announced the lawsuit while going into detail how they were targeted by Seattle police during the protests that flared in the city last summer following the death of George Floyd by four Minneapolis police officers.

"This lawsuit is brought on behalf of peaceful protesters," said Karen, one of the event organizers. "These protesters did not attack the police. They did not commit violence. They did not loot. They are like 99 percent of the protesters who have tried to protest on behalf of Black Lives Matter. Their peaceful protests were met with the very thing they are protesting against: They were met by excessive force from the police."

The 100-page lawsuit includes the family of Summer Taylor, who was killed in the overnight hours of July 4 while protesting police brutality on a closed stretch of Interstate 5 when a white Jaguar sped around parked cars on the freeway, striking Taylor and another protester.

“I don't have many good days anymore” Summer’s father, Matt Taylor, told KOMO News following the announcement about the lawsuit. Taylor's family said the victim had lived on Capitol Hill and was a regular protest participant since the unrest began in Seattle in June.

Matt Taylor said the Washington State Patrol troopers failed to protect protesters who where on I-5 that night. The lawsuit says the state has a history of allowing I-5 lanes to be temporarily shut down for people exercising their First Amendment right.

“Yes, they were not providing adequate protection” he said. “If you look at the way they behaved and the things they say, the things they say in social media, they weren't there protecting anyone, they didn't care at all.”

Daniel Gregory was shot by a man who drove his car into a crowd that was standing behind a barricade set up by Seattle police officers to prevent protesters from advancing to the department's East Precinct building.

Gregory said police should have protected demonstrators from someone driving into the crowd.

“They didn't prevent it,” he said. “I felt like they favored it to happen more than they favored for it not to happen. They had barricades (and), we had cones we set up.”

According to the filing, Gregory is also a plaintiff in the civil action.

"City and State governmental entities operating in Seattle are not above the law," the plaintiffs state in the lawsuit. "Their solemn duties include protecting and serving The People. Even when The People are critical of or peacefully disobedient towards those in power or who have law enforcement authority over them, governments are not allowed to react out of irritation or anger. Governments are not allowed to indiscriminately lash out against The People invoking their Constitutional rights to assemble and protest, even if in disharmony with other laws. Governments are not allowed to create or contribute to situations imperiling The People protesting."

Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include protesters who said they were beaten, struck, doused with pepper spray or tear gassed by police during protests.

One of those was a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.

“All the things that we experienced when we were deployed are literally happening here,” said Abie Ekenezar.

The plaintiffs accuse Seattle police of engaging in discrimination and brutality while the protesters were exercising their Constitutionally mandated rights to peacefully protest.

The plaintiffs accuse Seattle police of engaging in discrimination and brutality while the protesters were exercising their Constitutionally mandated rights to peacefully protest.

The lawsuit is accusing the city of violating the state's Constitution and other state and local laws.

City officials said they will challenge the lawsuit.

“We intend to investigate these alleged claims and will defend the City in this matter,” a spokesman for the Seattle City Attorney's Office said.