[ACLU-NM] Press Release: ACLU Files Lawsuit Against APD for Treatment of Albuquerque Protestors

[Kimberly Lavender]

~ ACLU-NM NEWS RELEASE ~



For Immediate Release

March 19, 2004



Contact:        Peter Simonson, ACLU-NM Executive Director, 266-4622

                        Cammie Nichols, Attorney, 243-1443

                        Mary Lou Boelcke, Attorney, 265-3445



ACLU Files Lawsuit Against APD

for Treatment of Albuquerque Protestors



Albuquerque---The ACLU of New Mexico and the New Mexico chapter of the
National Lawyers Guild filed a civil rights lawsuit today against the
Albuquerque Police Department for its handling of a protest against the Iraq
war that took place in Albuquerque on March 20th, 2003.  Fourteen
plaintiffs — including two minors – accuse the Albuquerque police of
violating their free speech rights and subjecting them to false
imprisonment, wrongful arrest, malicious abuse of process, and excessive use
of force.  Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, Department of Public Safety
Chief Nick Bakas, Chief of Police Gilbert Gallegos, and twelve APD officers
are named as defendants in the suit.



On the evening of March 20th, 2003, a group of several hundred people
gathered in front of the University of New Mexico bookstore to protest the
decision by U.S. President Bush to invade Iraq.  APD officers dressed in
riot gear and some mounted on draft horses closed off the intersection of
Central and Girard and Central and University avenues and then formed
“skirmish lines” in front of the demonstrators.   The officers then escorted
the protestors in a loop that ran west to University Ave., north on
University, and eventually west to Cedar Ave. before returning to Central
Ave.



As the crowd returned to the original gathering spot and crossed University
and Central, officers struck people with batons and used horses to force
stragglers to move more quickly.  As protestors crossed Harvard Ave., police
launched tear gas canisters into the crowd.  The officers eventually maced
protestors and shot them with bean-bag and pepper rounds, dispersing the
crowd.  In one incident, an APD officer fired fifteen pepper-gun rounds at a
protestor who lay in a submissive posture in the street.  Other protestors
reported being hit with tear gas canisters that were fired into the crowd.
Several arrests were made.



“We are deeply concerned by the police department’s policy of managing
peaceful protests with the same techniques that are used to control violent
mobs,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “These protestors
were a threat to no one.  They were students, senior citizens, and parents
with their children and dogs.  Despite their peaceful behavior, the
protestors were gassed, beaten with batons, and shot with stun-weapons.”



ACLU cooperating attorney Cammie Nichols said, “the actions that prompted
this lawsuit are not a few minor instances of officers accidentally stepping
over the line.  This lawsuit responds to a distinct pattern of grossly
negligent and over-aggressive behavior that subjected law-abiding citizens
to unnecessary danger and intimidation.



“After the experiences of last March, how many people will stay home the
next time a large demonstration is organized simply out of fear of how the
APD might respond?” Nichols asked.



On November 20, 2003, after interviewing 47 police officers and 23 citizens,
Albuquerque’s Independent Review Office found that some police officers used
excessive force during the March protest.  The IRO also found that some
officers failed to render aid or to request aid for injured people, failed
to follow standard operating procedures, and used weapons that were not
authorized or not recommended for crowd control.  The IRO concluded that  a
series of bad decisions made by high ranking police officials created a
dangerous situation for everyone at the march, including police and
demonstrators.



Chief of Police, Gilbert Gallegos is not required to act on the findings of
the IRO or to follow its recommendations.



“Our lawsuit is intended to give the City and the Albuquerque Police
Department a wake up call that it needs to reassess its strategies for
responding to demonstrations,” said ACLU cooperating attorney Mary Lou
Boelcke.  “The policies of the Bush administration are likely to prompt more
protests in the near future.  We don’t want to see a repeat of last March.”



Attorneys for the ACLU-NM and the National Lawyers Guild include Cammie
Nichols, Mary Lou Boelcke, Marc Lowry, Larry Kronen, Cindy Marrs, and David
Stotz.  The suit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, including
improvements in City and APD training and policies regarding the management
of peaceful demonstrations.



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