Occupy Oakland protesters hit by car file federal lawsuit against city and BART police officers -

[Fire Walk With Me]

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Occupy Oakland protesters hit by car file federal lawsuit against city and BART police officers -
http://www.mercurynews.com/occupy/ci_21987858/occupy-oakland-protesters-hit-by-car-file-federal …
#OO #FTP

[sabrina 1]

1. I remember that very well and remember the outrage over the cops doing nothing to detain

the driver. I also remember that two people were taken to the hospital and wondered what happened to them.

I am really glad they are suing, but cops who are derelict in their duties, as they were that night (and there are plenty of photos and video of the incident) should be fired and charged criminally.

Margaret So and Lance Laverdure claim their rights were violated because neither the Oakland nor BART police departments pursued a criminal case against Jan Carrigg, the driver of a car that hit them.

Instead, the protesters' lawsuit claims, officers representing the police departments helped conceal a crime by allowing Carrigg and his passenger Sara Abu-Nasser, to leave the scene of the alleged crime without any formal investigation.

"Despite the fact that a felony was committed in the presence of dozens of witnesses -- many of whom filmed the incident -- and despite the fact they had the suspects and other critical evidence at the scene within their control, defendants who appeared to be BART police, cleared a path for Carrigg and Abu-Nasser to leave the scene of the felony crime," the lawsuit states. "Defendants' actions aided and abetted the assault and battery ... and facilitated the concealment of a crime and the destruction of critical evidence."

That was a criminal act. At the time we wondered who the driver was, didn't know he had been identified.

Looks like they were very seriously injured too, 'disabled for life'. How sad. I am sure the Mayor will looking into this!

[kestrel91316]

2. Good. They ought to sue the driver while they're at it.

[sabrina 1]

3. I remember people wondered if he was a cop at the time. There was no effort to

stop him by the police. It was outrageous. People were trying to help the injured, and the cops just let him go.

Someone got his photo thankfully. It was posted all over the internet to try to get an ID at the time. The cops made no effort to ID him.

He should have been arrested and charged with a crime. That was a horrible night. Too bad the victims could not expect justice.

But then no one who was nearly killed during these protests has received any justice. We're still waiting for the 'investigation' into who nearly killed two Iraq Veterans to be 'completed' also.

[sabrina 1]

4. True, but I am glad they are suing the city and the cops. I think that shows that it is

not so much the money they are after, it is justice. That was an egregious travesty of justice and showed the criminality of the Oakland PD when it came to OWS.

"Despite the fact that a felony was committed in the presence of dozens of witnesses -- many of whom filmed the incident -- and despite the fact they had the suspects and other critical evidence at the scene within their control, defendants who appeared to be BART police, cleared a path for Carrigg and Abu-Nasser to leave the scene of the felony crime," the lawsuit states. "Defendants' actions aided and abetted the assault and battery ... and facilitated the concealment of a crime and the destruction of critical evidence."

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys Pamela Price and Simona Farrise, seeks monetary damages in excess of $250,000 for mental and emotional distress and unspecified punitive damages.

That is exactly correct. Thousands of people, maybe more, around the world saw that live on Ustream as it happened.

I hope this prompts a real investigation. That police department needs to be disbanded and the Mayor needs to step down. Her deputy mayor did step in protest because of her complicity in these crimes against peaceful protesters.

[Poll_Blind]

5. A belated thank-you for FWWM for tracking down this story.

I was just trying to track down what happened, if there were updates, and came across your DU post among others.

Keeping track of things like this...it's old school DU, and I'm grateful.

PB