SPRINGFIELD – It was announced last week that a lawsuit between Black Unity and the City of Springfield, along with several named current and past Springfield Police officers, is advancing to court.
In the summer of 2020, Black Unity led a protest after the sighting of a skeleton hanging from a tree with a noose wrapped around its neck in Thurston. The protest quickly turned violent when defendants encouraged counter-protestors to engage in unconstitutional actions to prevent the plaintiff’s First Amendment activities by preventing and blocking plaintiffs from lawfully marching in public spaces.
According to court documents, actions against the plaintiffs included, “unlawful detention, colluding with and informing violent counter-protestors about plaintiff’s plans; encouraging, alerting, and conspiring with violent counter-protestors to amass and use force against plaintiffs; roadblocks that prevented a lawful protest march; unconstitutional uses of force and threats of force; unconstitutional arrests and threats of arrest; and allowing violent counter-demonstrators to attack, threaten, harass, intimidate, or otherwise engage in unlawful actions against protestors, including plaintiffs.”
Oregon Federal District Court Judge Ann Aiken issued an Opinion and Order on Jan. 23, nearly six years after the actions occurred, holding the defendants accountable. The Court denied the defendants’ arguments and ruled in favor of Black Unity and individual activists who were harmed at the march.
The Opinion reads, “Defendants testified that, without prior knowledge of the marchers’ route, they decided to erect a barricade at the intersection of 67th Street and Dogwood Street, on the perimeter of the Thurston Hills neighborhood. Defendants did not advise Black Unity in advance that they intended to erect a barricade.”
Plaintiff Martin Allums testified, “We had started hearing the cops say it was an unlawful protest. It turned into more of a crisis situation,” according to court documents.
The Court ruled in favor of the defendants, allowing their claims to proceed to trial. Black Unity and the individual plaintiffs are represented by Civil Liberties Defense Center, with CLDC attorneys Lauren Regan and Marianne Dugan as counsel.
According to CLDC, the following claims will proceed to trial:
- “Springfield violated plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights by imposing prior restraints on their right to protest – by blockading the path of the march; declaring the march an unlawful assembly; and diverting protestors into a gauntlet of violent, racist, far-right extremists. All of these actions were illegal and intended to chill anti-racist activists’ rights to protest and free speech.
- Springfield police repeatedly used excessive force against several activists, including making closed-fist punches to the head, and shoving videographers against whom no force was appropriate.
- Springfield and its employees violated Oregon’s anti-surveillance statute by running plaintiffs’ license plates, using undercover agents to monitor lawful political activity, and creating a database on local activists, all in violation of their federal due process rights.
- Springfield police retaliated against Black Unity and anti-racist activists for exercising their First Amendment rights.
- Springfield engaged in a race-based conspiracy to deprive Black Unity and anti-racist activists of their civil rights, in violation of the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) Act.”
Black Unity issued a statement in response to the Court’s Order.
“As Dr. King stated, a threat to justice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere. The people need to stand up to systems of oppression and that includes federal agents, cops, military, and government officials. Being on the right side of history means using your voice and standing your ground against the mistreatment of humans and to fight for our rights no matter what your job is. That is what democracy looks like.”
