Suit: Richland police shot tear gas, rubber bullets at peaceful Columbia protester
A Columbia man who said he was peppered with tear gas and rubber bullets at a Columbia protest last month is suing the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, Columbia Police Department and the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Lawyer Marc Brown of Sumter filed the suit in federal court Wednesday on behalf of Patrick Norris.
“From watching all the video and hearing the law enforcement accounts of what happened and seeing it clearly does not match the video, that’s very problematic,” Brown said.
Norris marched with demonstrators on Sunday, May 31, in Columbia in a protest against police brutality and for police reform.
The weekend was full of protests across the nation that were sparked by the killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police. Four former Minneapolis police officers have been charged in Floyd’s May 25 death.
Norris “became the victim of the same type of police brutality he was marching against when law enforcement officers indiscriminately fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets into crowds of people,” the suit says.
A group of peaceful protesters marched to Hampton Street, where they were met by police in riot gear behind a barricade, according to the suit. Protesters stopped at the barricade and began chanting.
Unprovoked, the riot police pushed into protesters and struck them with batons before firing tear gas, the suit claims. The suit says Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott gave the order for officers to push into the protesters.
Officers from the sheriff’s department, Columbia Police Department and the state Department of Corrections attacked the protesters, the suit says.
Law enforcement officers “were the aggressors — they stormed the barricade using a shield wall and began indiscriminately firing into the crowd,” the suit says.
During the police aggression, Norris was shot with tear gas and rubber bullets. Norris did nothing to warrant the use of force against him, the suit says.
Pictures included in the lawsuit show three wounds on Norris’ back and a leg.
Norris, through his lawyer, asked for a jury trial.
He’s seeking an undetermined amount of money for costs connected to his injuries and as punishment against the police agencies.
A spokesperson for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said the department had not been served with the lawsuit. Columbia Police Department and the Department of Corrections said they won’t comment on litigation.
Brown said he’s representing other protesters who were arrested during the weekend of demonstrations in Columbia and is willing represent others without charge who were “exercising their rights peacefully.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 12:31 PM.