Attorneys in Wisconsin filed a class-action civil rights lawsuit accusing the Kenosha Police Department of selectively enforcing the curfew during the riots last month.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday on behalf of four of the 69 individuals who were arrested for violating the city’s curfew during the riots that took place following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The lawsuit alleges that the Kenosha Police Department only arrested anti-police violence protesters while allowing the pro-police armed militias to continue to demonstrate past curfew.
“In Kenosha, there are two sets of laws — one that applies to those who protest police brutality and racism, and another for those who support the police,” the lawsuit stated. “Even though there were both pro-police and anti-police brutality protesters, ONLY anti-police protesters have been arrested under this ordinance.”
Kimberley Motley and E. Milo Schwab, the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, maintained that their clients were peaceful protesters who were arrested for violating curfew while armed counterprotesters were able to demonstrate freely. The two attorneys accused the Kenosha police of coordinating with the armed protesters and locking-up those with whom they disagreed.
“But these pro-police protesters are not simply protesters, they also appear to be coordinating with the Kenosha Police,” the attorneys wrote, referencing videos of officers handing armed protesters water bottles.
The attorneys also noted that Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old charged in connection to the shooting that killed two protesters last week, was able to leave the city without being arrested. They argued that the lawsuit must move forward, or their clients will continue to fear that curfew laws will be used to “target only those opposing police brutality.”
Protests started in Kenosha after Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot several times at close range during an arrest. Some of the protests devolved into riots that left several buildings burned and looted.
