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MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the U.S. Secret Service and state and local police protecting President Bush during a 2004 campaign appearance discriminated against anti-Bush protesters when they moved to clear the streets outside an inn where the president was eating dinner.
The class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court contends that police acting on orders from the Secret Service used unreasonable force to move some 200 people peacefully protesting against the war in Iraq in the historic Gold Rush town of Jacksonville while allowing pro-Bush demonstrators to remain standing on sidewalks.
“Our primary motive is to prevent this kind of activity from happening again in the future,” said David Fidanque, executive director of the Oregon ACLU. “Discrimination is taking place across the country that is part of the Secret Service keeping away protesters from the president and vice president. It has escalated dramatically in the past five years.”
Fidanque and attorney Ralph Temple said they knew of 16 similar instances in 12 other states and at least three other lawsuits have been filed.
“We have no quarrel with protecting the president.” Temple said. “Consistently, the Secret Service has used protection of the president as an excuse for keeping anti-Bush protesters out of the hearing of the president.”
On Oct. 16, 2004, President Bush made a campaign speech at the Jackson County fairgrounds in Central Point, then drove with his wife and entourage to Jacksonville, population about 2,100, where he had dinner on the patio of the Jacksonville Inn within earshot of protesters before spending the night at an inn cottage.
Protest organizer Shelley Elkovich said they took pains to talk to police to be sure the atmosphere would be safe for families, children and the elderly, and were told that everyone would be fine if they stayed on the sidewalks.
“The only violence that took place the night of Oct. 14, 2004, in Jacksonville was violence by the police against peaceful demonstrators,” said Fidanque.
Demonstrators told ACLU investigators that about 40 police officers in riot gear brandished clubs and fired paintballs loaded with pepper spray to move an estimated 200 to 300 demonstrators away from the inn.
Jacksonville Police Chief David Towe’s testimony in a criminal case against two demonstrators that police moved under orders from the Secret Service gave them the evidence they needed to file the lawsuit, Temple said.
Michael Moss, a 30-year-old rancher from Jacksonville, said he was shot in the back seven times with pepperballs when he stopped to help a man who had fallen in the street.
The lawsuit names as defendants Secret Service Director Ralph Basham, three Secret Service agents, Towe, the city of Jacksonville, the state of Oregon, state police Superintendent Ron Ruecker, two state police officers, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters, and Jackson County.
Spokesmen for the Secret Service, state police and the town of Jacksonville said they would have no comment on pending litigation. Winters did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.
The plaintiffs are seven protesters and the Jackson County Pacific Green Party.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring the Secret Service and police from discriminating against protesters in the future. It also seeks unspecified compensatory damages for demonstrators who were injured, and punitive damages for demonstrators who were denied their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
Temple said it would be up to a jury to determine the amount of damages. But he estimated the value of being able to protest against the president in your hometown at $10,000 to $20,000.
The class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court contends that police acting on orders from the Secret Service used unreasonable force to move some 200 people peacefully protesting against the war in Iraq in the historic Gold Rush town of Jacksonville while allowing pro-Bush demonstrators to remain standing on sidewalks.
“Our primary motive is to prevent this kind of activity from happening again in the future,” said David Fidanque, executive director of the Oregon ACLU. “Discrimination is taking place across the country that is part of the Secret Service keeping away protesters from the president and vice president. It has escalated dramatically in the past five years.”
Fidanque and attorney Ralph Temple said they knew of 16 similar instances in 12 other states and at least three other lawsuits have been filed.
“We have no quarrel with protecting the president.” Temple said. “Consistently, the Secret Service has used protection of the president as an excuse for keeping anti-Bush protesters out of the hearing of the president.”
On Oct. 16, 2004, President Bush made a campaign speech at the Jackson County fairgrounds in Central Point, then drove with his wife and entourage to Jacksonville, population about 2,100, where he had dinner on the patio of the Jacksonville Inn within earshot of protesters before spending the night at an inn cottage.
Protest organizer Shelley Elkovich said they took pains to talk to police to be sure the atmosphere would be safe for families, children and the elderly, and were told that everyone would be fine if they stayed on the sidewalks.
“The only violence that took place the night of Oct. 14, 2004, in Jacksonville was violence by the police against peaceful demonstrators,” said Fidanque.
Demonstrators told ACLU investigators that about 40 police officers in riot gear brandished clubs and fired paintballs loaded with pepper spray to move an estimated 200 to 300 demonstrators away from the inn.
Jacksonville Police Chief David Towe’s testimony in a criminal case against two demonstrators that police moved under orders from the Secret Service gave them the evidence they needed to file the lawsuit, Temple said.
Michael Moss, a 30-year-old rancher from Jacksonville, said he was shot in the back seven times with pepperballs when he stopped to help a man who had fallen in the street.
The lawsuit names as defendants Secret Service Director Ralph Basham, three Secret Service agents, Towe, the city of Jacksonville, the state of Oregon, state police Superintendent Ron Ruecker, two state police officers, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters, and Jackson County.
Spokesmen for the Secret Service, state police and the town of Jacksonville said they would have no comment on pending litigation. Winters did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.
The plaintiffs are seven protesters and the Jackson County Pacific Green Party.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring the Secret Service and police from discriminating against protesters in the future. It also seeks unspecified compensatory damages for demonstrators who were injured, and punitive damages for demonstrators who were denied their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
Temple said it would be up to a jury to determine the amount of damages. But he estimated the value of being able to protest against the president in your hometown at $10,000 to $20,000.
