The Supreme Court rules in favor of Americans’ right to protest. Today, the Court threw out a lower court opinion against Black Lives Matter leader DeRay Mckesson that cut to the heart of Americans’ right to free speech.
In McKesson v. Doe, an unnamed Louisiana police officer sought damages from McKesson after an unidentified protester threw a “rock-like” object, striking the officer’s face, resulting in injuries to his jaw and head. While McKesson was not the person who threw the object, the officer argues that because he organized the protest, he is liable for his injuries.
As Emerson Sykes, a staff attorney with the ACLU, recently told GEN: “The case has the potential to have an amazing chilling effect. If any organization can be held liable for actions of totally unconnected people, no one would organize a protest.”
