Federal appeals court Judge Carolyn King dissented against a recent majority ruling that allowed a police officer to revive his lawsuit against Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson, arguing that it threatens the First Amendment.
Announced last Thursday, a 2-1 decision allowed police officer John Ford to move forward with a lawsuit against Mckesson, accusing him of negligence. Judges Edith H. Jones and Andrew Oldham claim that Ford deserves a jury trial for injuries that he reportedly obtained at a 2016 protest.
Held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the protest revolved around the murder of Alton Sterling. The 37-year-old was shot a total of six times by the police while selling CDs in front of a convenience store. Mckesson and hundreds of others gathered to protest his death where Ford was reportedly hit by a hard object. Although Mckesson is not being accused of throwing the object or even knowing about the event, the lawsuit seeks to hold him accountable for negligence as the organizer.
In her dissent, Judge King argued that Mckesson is not the person who should be sued, making him responsible for something that was not in his control.
“Someone should be held accountable, but Officer Ford has not come close to demonstrating that Mckesson is that someone,” said King. “In doing so [making Mckesson responsible], it imperils First Amendment liberties.”
In a statement, Mckesson reacted to the decision, emphasizing its impact on anyone who wants to protest.
“The purpose of this lawsuit was not just to silence me, but to make people afraid to show up to protests because they might get sued for someone else’s behavior,” said Mckesson per an ACLU statement.
“That is an affront to our First Amendment freedoms, and even after nearly ten years, I will not stop fighting this ludicrous suit in order to protect all of our rights to protest, organize, and imagine a world beyond policing.”
A graduate of Bowdoin College, Mckeeson is an activist who was heavily involved with the Black Lives Matter movement, helping organize protests in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.
A year later, he helped co-found Campaign Zero, a police reform campaign dedicated to enacting policies to end police brutality.
Campaign Zero specifically works as a research-based platform that looks at achieving public safety beyond policing. Since their inception, the platform has led several initiatives, including creating the “8 Can’t Wait” report, the “End All No Knocks” initiative and the “Criminal Activity Nuisance Ordinances” policies.
