US Supreme Court Rejects BLM Activist’s Appeal, Allows Louisiana Cop To Sue Over 2016 Protest

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Black Lives Matter activist who’s being sued by a Louisiana police officer who was injured during a 2016 protest.

The Court declined to hear an appeal by DeRay Mckesson, leaving a lower court decision in place which revived a lawsuit brought by the Baton Rouge police officer, John Ford Reuters reports. Ford has accused Mckesson of negligence after being struck by a rock during a protest over the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling.

In 2023, the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Mckesson’s defense that his rights to free speech and assembly under the First Amendment protect him against the negligence claim. Mckesson is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The decision could make it easier to sue protest organizers for the illegal conduct of an attendee, according to the report.

Alton Sterling was shot by a Baton Rouge police officer on July 5, 2016 (prior to the George Floyd incident), after a struggle outside a convenience store in which Sterling reached for a loaded handgun in his pants pocket, he was shot dead by officers who were trying to control his arms. Officers recovered a loaded .38 caliber revolver from Sterling’s pants pocket.

Four days later, BLM organized a protest demanding accountability – during which Ford, the plaintiff, was struck in the face by a rock or a piece of concrete thrown by an unidentified person. He lost teeth and suffered brain injuries, according to the complaint.

Ford argues that Mckesson, who was arrested the day of the protest but had a charge dropped, should have known that the protest would turn violent.

Ford’s case was initially dismissed by US District Judge Brian Jackson (Obama appointee), however it was later revived by the 5th Circuit in 2023 – which found that the First Amendment didn’t bar the negligence claim. In doing so, the Court rejected Mckesson’s argument that the lawsuit was foreclosed by a 1982 Supreme Court ruling involving black civil rights activists in Mississippi which limited liability for protest leaders.