CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A viral video appears to show protesters surrounded by tear gas in Uptown on June 2. Now, WCNC Defenders team has obtained a 2016 federal lawsuit that describes a similar scene after the death of Keith Scott.
In 2016, attorneys filed an injunction to try to prevent the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department from using tear gas. The lawsuit claimed it violated the First Amendment rights of the protesters.
Current Charlotte city councilman Braxton Winston was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. This week, he led an effort to defund chemical agents in CMPD’s 2021 budget.
One of the attorneys for the plaintiffs tells WCNC Charlotte he withdrew the lawsuit after the conflict between police and protesters seemed to settle down, but in hindsight, he wishes he hadn’t.
“Sadly, we’ve seen it repeated,” says Jake Sussman, an attorney and managing director of the Justice Collaborative.
The Defenders team obtained a copy of a federal lawsuit filed weeks after the demonstrations in Uptown over Keith Scott’s death. In the lawsuit, Sussman and several other attorneys asked the court for a preliminary injunction to prevent CMPD from using tear gas.
“To put the city on notice that it’s handling of the protests was unacceptable and unconstitutional,” said Sussman.
Among the plaintiffs, Councilman Winston has been in the midst of both protests. According to the lawsuit, the tear gas caused burning on his skin and lungs making it so he was unable to hold his children for days. Nearly four years later, Councilman Winston led an effort to defund chemical agents, which passed the city council this week.
“Chemical agents should not be used on humans by other human beings,” Councilman Winston previously told WCNC Charlotte.
It comes after a viral video appeared to show protesters surrounded by tear gas on June 2.
“What we saw on Tuesday was deplorable and showed the immediate need for change,” said Councilman Winston.
However, years before the viral video emerged, Councilman Winston’s lawsuit described protesters being trapped by chemical agents in enclosed spaces.
“The same types of techniques we saw recently in Charlotte had been on display in 2016 by CMPD in terms of kettling and cornering protesters,” said Sussman.
Sussman ultimately withdrew the lawsuit months later, after tensions with police died down, but in hindsight, he says he wishes he hadn’t.
“When I look back on the fact that we had brought this lawsuit based on some of the very same conduct, I’m sad we didn’t pursue it to the fullest at that time,” said Sussman.
In response to the city council’s decision to defund chemical agents, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police released the following statement:
After watching the virtual City of Charlotte Council meeting on 6-8-2020 the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #9 was torn with what occurred that evening.
On one hand we are appreciative that the budget was adopted securing the recommended salary and benefits for CMPD. On the other hand, we are extremely disappointed with the substitute motion Councilman Winston made that no budgeted funds be used to purchase or maintain chemical agents for use in crowd control or dispersing crowds for the upcoming fiscal year.
As we have stated before and will continue to in the future, chemical agents are an effective non-lethal tool to aid in the dispersing of crowds.
CMPD has been dealt a hand by Charlotte City Council where an effective and necessary tool has been removed. What City Council has done without debate or input from all parties involved is create a very serious problem with no solutions. CMPD has been told to do without an effective tool and figure out a different way of doing business that will suffice to Council (whatever that may be).
The council's knee-jerk reaction in approving Councilman Winston's motion will further demoralize CMPD officers and add to the difficulties the CMPD has experienced for several years in recruiting and retaining police officers. Many may not care and say "move on and figure it out". "That's what you get paid to do". Well, that's exactly what we will do as we have done in the past.
Additionally, and we pray that it never happens, the lack of this tool as a non-lethal option in the future may result in serious injuries or deaths to officers and/or citizens and the increased destruction of property. Should this occur, the responsibility and liability will rest solely on the shoulders of the City Council members who voted in favor of the motion.
We are disheartened that we do not have the support of the City Council. Only Council members Bokhari and Driggs felt the need to speak up on our behalf and look at an issue from both sides before making a hasty decision. We are disturbed by the talk of defunding/disbanding police agencies. Our professional opinion is that defunding CMPD could very well further compromise the safety of our community and officers. Councilman Driggs said it exactly right. Your motion took a “gratuitous dig at police”.
Councilman Winston, your additional comments following the motion shows us how much of an uphill battle we have with the City Council and how much prejudice you have against the police. To say that the systemic failures of policing in America and Charlotte are embedded on racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and the reduction of human nature to a binary enrages every law enforcement officer because you have labeled ALL of us as failures and automatically placed us into all those categories simply because we are law enforcement officers. How would you feel if we were to say that at the core of every politician is the drive to be corrupt, manipulative, and power-hungry?
Keep this in mind as well. When you use the label CMPD it also includes non-sworn employees and families of those employees. They too are affected by your words and feel the same frustrations as uniformed officers.
The defunding of the CMPD is something that could be worked on for sure, but your comments are one that furthers an "us versus them" mentality. Rather than working to bridge the gap of distrust between the community and the police your words are widening the gap. In a time when recruitment and retention of qualified law enforcement officers is getting more and more difficult, your comments and actions are making it near impossible.
CMPD is not sitting back on its heels hoping for things to turn out for the better. CMPD continuously implements programs, training, directives, procedures, and protocols to ensure we are doing what we can to best serve the citizens of Charlotte and to have a first-rate police department.
Councilman Winston, your comment further erodes the morale of CMPD members and makes them wonder why in the world they would want to commit thirty years of their life for this. Most officers do the right thing day in and day out and want to be appreciated and respected. Just as you do not want to be judged based on the actions of a few bad politicians, they do not want to be judged by the actions of a few bad police officers.
WCNC Charlotte also reached out to CMPD about the 2016 lawsuit, but they did not provide a specific statement or response.
