ACLU challenges police 'five-second rule' for arresting protesters in Ferguson
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The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge on Monday to enjoin a so-called “five-second rule” used by Ferguson police to arrest protesters who linger in one spot for more than five seconds.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry did not rule after lengthy testimony on Monday, report the Washington Post, the Daily RFT and the St. Louis American. The ACLU claims the rule is being applied arbitrarily against those who are protesting the fatal shooting of an unarmed teen by a Ferguson police officer.
ACLU attorney Grant Doty said the rule seemed to be enforced disproportionately against younger minorities, according to the St. Louis American.
Another federal lawsuit seeks $60 million for alleged excessive force by police in dealing with protesters, Reuters reports. One plaintiff claims he was sprayed with mace while handcuffed on the ground, while another says police shot him in the face with a rubber bullet because he was recording the police beating of another man.
Meanwhile protester Dasha Jones, from the activist group called Lost Voices, says police descended on the group’s Ferguson encampment last week and seized everything the group’s members failed to pick up in five minutes. The Washington Post says a constitutional law book was among the items packed up from the protest site. Police told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch group members had been warned eight days before that they had to leave the property in six days.
