The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Omaha Police Department, alleging that officers used excessive force on protesters in Nebraska.
In the lawsuit filed on Monday, the ACLU said that the department’s use of pepper balls, mass arrests, and other crowd-controlling police tactics violated the rights of protesters who have demonstrated in the city for the past several months. Danielle Conrad, the executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska, said the department’s use of force threatened the health and safety of protesters.
“The answer to protests against police brutality shouldn’t be more brutality,” Conrad told the Associated Press. “Omaha police have put black Omahans and all Omahans calling for justice in the unacceptable position of deciding between their constitutional rights and their own health and safety.”
Omaha City Attorney Paul Kratz defended the department. He maintained that officers responded appropriately to the protests.
“Omaha has always been supportive of free speech and public demonstrations and will continue to do so,” Kratz said. “The police make every effort to cooperate and protect demonstrators as long as they obey the law and police commands.”
There have been several protests in Omaha against police brutality and racial injustice since the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in Minneapolis police custody. Some of those protests have devolved into violent riots. At least one demonstrator was killed in May. Authorities determined that the bar owner involved in the shooting acted in self-defense as rioters swarmed his business.
The ACLU maintained that most of the protesters who were arrested were peaceful, despite the riots. The organization argued that mass arrests infringed on the rights of protesters.
“It’s not appropriate to meet peaceful protesters with a militarized response,” Conrad said.
