ACLU, protesters sue Trump over use of force on peaceful demonstrators

Protesters in Lafayette Square.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The American Civil Liberties Union and protesters from Maryland and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Trump administration over the use of force to push peaceful demonstrators out of Lafayette Square on Monday.

President Trump, Attorney General William Barr, and other federal officials are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Security personnel used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, which was protesting the death of George Floyd. This happened shortly before Trump walked over to take photos in front of St. John's Church.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.