51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The ACLU filed its second federal lawsuit in a week claiming police violated the rights of people protesting a fatal police shooting in 51黑料.

was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of a 51黑料 resident and two 51黑料 County residents against 51黑料 police, six unidentified officers and St. Clair County. It says that the three were protesting on Aug. 19, 2015.

Sarah Molina and Christina Vogel, both 51黑料 County residents, fled from a peaceful, non-violent protest after police began , the suit says. Vogel is also the daughter of a former 51黑料 police officer. They heard police say 鈥渄isperse,鈥� but the remainder of any warnings or commands were unintelligible, the suit says, and police didn鈥檛 warn that they were going to use chemicals, they say.

Police in a SWAT truck, under joint command of 51黑料 police and the St. Clair County Sheriff鈥檚 office, shot tear gas and smoke canisters directly at Molina and Vogel 30 minutes later and three blocks away, when they were standing on the sidewalk and in the yard of Molina鈥檚 house, the suit says. They claim police recognized the pair from the protest.

Peter Groce, of 51黑料, was biking home when he spotted the SWAT truck driving on the grass in Fountain Park and told police they should be in the street, the suit says. The officers retaliated with a tear gas canister that hit Groce鈥檚 hip and pepper spray that hit his arm and shoulder, the lawsuit says.

All suffered physical and emotional damages, the suit says. Both Molina and Vogel skipped protests out of fear of police, it says.

Then-51黑料 Police Chief Sam Dotson said at the time that police cleared protesters after bricks, water bottles and other objects were thrown at officers. Dotson said he also heard gunshots.

During the protests later that night, a tree, a car and a vacant house , and a store was broken into.

The suit follows one filed by the ACLU last week over recent protests. That lawsuit during a 鈥渒ettling鈥� on Sept. 17 in which in downtown 51黑料.

Another lawsuit was filed that same day by the MacArthur Justice Center on behalf of a 51黑料 resident, Nick Apperson, for activity that is protected by the First Amendment. over the mass arrest on Sept. 17.

In a statement released by the ACLU, Molina draws a line from the 2015 event to those recent protests.

鈥淲hat we saw (in recent protests) 鈥� mass arrests and gassing of entire neighborhoods 鈥� didn鈥檛 occur in a vacuum. Enough is enough,鈥� said Molina in an ACLU statement announcing the suit. 鈥淲e need to push back and say, 鈥楾his is not OK.鈥� We need to push back against police interference with our Constitutional rights.鈥�

51黑料 police referred a reporter to 51黑料 City Counselor Julian Bush, who declined to comment on the suit.

Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU, said in the statement that, 鈥淭his lawsuit reveals a consistent pattern of 51黑料 Metropolitan Police Department officers repeatedly ignoring the First Amendment rights of the people they took an oath to protect and serve. Officers should never retaliate against people for nonviolently assembling or publicly grieving the loss of a member of the community.鈥�

Officers shot Ball-Bey, 18, while executing a search warrant at a home in the 1200 block of Walton Avenue.

Officials have said that Ball-Bey, who worked at Fed-Ex, pointed a handgun at officers Ronald Vaughan and Kyle Chandler before they opened fire. That account was disputed by family lawyers.

Last year, then-Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce to support a charge against the officers.