Officers Said They Hoped Black Lives Matter Protesters Would Die, Suit Says

The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in U.S. District Courtroom for the District of Maryland, accuses the division of harassment, discrimination and retaliation. It seeks financial and compensatory damages, the termination of Sergeant Harvey’s employment and the appointment of an unbiased monitor to make sure equity within the Park Police, amongst different actions.

“Essentially, he desires to see issues within the division change,” Erika Jacobsen White, Officer Miles’s lawyer, stated on Wednesday. “The truth that this sort of overt racist conduct has gone on unchecked contained in the Police Division is simply tremendously egregious, and it impacts not solely Officer Miles however the residents they’re charged to guard.”

Martin Oliverio, a lawyer who represents Sergeant Harvey, declined to touch upon the lawsuit.

In an announcement, the Maryland-Nationwide Capital Park Police stated: “When a collection of secret textual content messages amongst a bunch of Park Law enforcement officials got here to the eye of our administration, we promptly initiated an investigation and took acceptable motion based mostly on the findings of that inquiry.”

The assertion provides, “In accordance with the Maryland Regulation Enforcement Officers Invoice of Rights, a number of officers had been suspended and referred to the disciplinary course of for termination.”

“Whereas we can not disclose the main points of particular person personnel actions or pending disciplinary proceedings, the suggestion that Park Police administration ignored allegations of misconduct by this group of officers is just incorrect, and we are going to make the outcomes of the trial board course of public on the acceptable time,” the assertion says.

The Park Police management staff “doesn’t tolerate racism or harassment within the office and won’t hesitate to place a cease to any such conduct each time it arises,” the assertion says.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 30, which represents officers within the division, declined to touch upon the lawsuit whereas the trial board was nonetheless deliberating.